(Religion in Chinese Societies) Emily Dunn - Lightning From The East - Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China-Brill Academic Pub (2015)

Lightning from the East
Religion in Chinese Societies
Edited by
Kenneth Dean (McGill University)

Richard Madsen (University of California, San Diego)
David Palmer (University of Hong Kong)
volume 8
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/rics

Lightning from the East
Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China
By
Emily Dunn
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Public gathering of members of the Church of Almighty God (Eastern Lightning) in 2012.
Pictured banner reads: “In 2012, the Almighty God will deliver mankind. Only those who accept [Him],
pray, and call [on His name] can be saved. If a person resists God, God will send them to hell. If a c ountry
resists God, God will wipe it from the face of the earth.” (Available at http://zt.kaiwind.com/a/qns/
tuwen/2012/1230/224.html. Accessed November 21, 2014.)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunn, Emily (Associate)

Lightning from the East : heterodoxy and Christianity in contemporary China / by Emily Dunn.
pages cm. — (Religion in chinese societies, ISSN 1877-6264 ; volume 8)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-29724-1 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-29725-8 (e-book : alk. paper)
1. Dong fang shan dian (Organization) 2. Cults—China. 3. Christianity—China—History—20th century.
4. Christianity—China—History—21st century. 5. Christianity and politics—China. 6. Protestantism—China.
I. Title.
BP605.D66D86 2015
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For Roger, Sophie and Anna.
∵
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Notes x
List of Figures xi
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xii
1 Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) and Religion in China 1
2 Protestant-related New Religious Movements in Contemporary

China 25
3 The Teachings of Eastern Lightning 62
4 The Heritage of Eastern Lightning’s Teachings: A Case Study 99
5 The Chinese Government’s Response to Protestant-related

New Religious Movements 118
6 The Art of Persuasion: Eastern Lightning’s Recruitment Strategies 139
7 Chinese Protestant Depictions of Heresy 163
8 Conclusion: Eastern Lightning in Local and Global Perspective 196
Appendix 1: Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning’s

Chinese Texts 207
Appendix 2: Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning’s
English Texts 213
Bibliography 216
Index 243
Acknowledgments
This book grew out of a PhD thesis that was completed at the University of
Melbourne in 2010. I remain thankful for the institutions and individuals who
lent their academic, financial and personal support to that project. First and
foremost, Professor Anne McLaren helped to clarify my thinking and encour-
aged me to argue boldly; Professor Antonia Finnane also offered incisive feed-
back. I have learnt a lot from both of them.
“The Book” may never have eventuated were it not for Kim-Kwong Chan urg-
ing me to develop it, and taking the initiative to email the editors of this series.
I am grateful also to Benjamin Penny for cheering me on, and for redeeming
the manuscript from assorted “infelicities.” Any that remain are entirely my
fault.
Numerous other colleagues offered suggestions and asked questions in
conversations that enriched this book. I thank (then) fellow students Haiqing
Yu, Anthony Garnaut, Mark Crosbie, Corey Bell, Ayxem Eli, Jonathan Benney,
Paul Farrelly, Vicki Turner, Jeremy Clarke, Scott Pacey and Nathan Woolley.
I benefited from presentations and discussions at a variety of conferences and
symposia, and extend particular appreciation to organizers and participants
at the Dissertation Workshop of the Asian Studies Association held in Chicago
in 2005, the Internet in Asia Symposium held at the University of Melbourne
in 2006, and the Religious Innovation in East Asia Conference held at the
Australian National University in 2007.
I am indebted to the academics, theologians and Christians who welcomed
and informed me in Hong Kong, Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. I continue to
be humbled by their devotion, integrity, expertise and sense of humor. I think
particularly fondly of Jessie. The impressions that these people have left extend
far beyond this book.
I thank Qin Higley, Thomas Begley, and Patrick Hunter of Brill for their
patience and expertise, Dinah Rapliza for typesetting, and Alexandra Hellios
and Susan Karani for their fine copy editing. I much appreciated the comments
of my two anonymous readers, and thank them for their time and analysis.
Warm thanks also the editors of this “Religion in China” series for allowing
my book to be published in it, and for their contributions to my own research,
which are evidenced by the footnotes which follow.
At the University of Melbourne, Bick-Har Yeung of the East Asian Division
of the Baillieu Library was a long-serving and tireless support to scholars of
China. I also thank the following institutions for access to their collections: Yale
Divinity School, the National Library of Australia, Dalton McCaughey Library
acknowledgments ix
Parkville, National Library of China, Shanghai Library, Chinese University of

Hong Kong, Holy Spirit Study Centre, and Alliance Theological Seminary.
Long before I embarked on this project, Zhou Shaoming, Lewis Mayo, David
Holm and Jeffrey Goonan taught me Mandarin, and Mrs. Anson introduced
me to Chinese history. Friends at Hoping Presbyterian Church in Taipei gave
me the vocabulary I needed to research Chinese Protestantism, as well as some
very happy times.
My parents and friends were a tremendous source of moral and practical
support during trying times. Special thanks to my Mum for many a Tuesday and
Dad for much advice; also to Nicole, Tim & Fletcher Ellis for their exceptional,
easygoing hospitality, Jessica Roberts and Emily Townsend for their friendship,
and Jan Lane for keeping me sane (I hope). My grandparents have supported
my education for many years, and I particularly thank my grandmother, Mavis
Tassicker, for her generosity and example of continuous learning. Last but not
least, I dedicate this book to Princess Sophie, little Anna, and Roger. They, too,
have made many sacrifices for this project. I look forward to having more fun
with them now that, perhaps, it is finished.
Near Melbourne
October 2014
Notes
All quotations from the Bible are taken from the New International Version
(NIV).
Chinese characters are given in traditional or simplified form according
to the original text, geographical location or era under discussion. Pinyin
Romanization is used except where another form is better known.
I have obtained hard copies of many of the Eastern Lightning (Church of
Almighty God) texts that are examined in this book, but prefer to cite electronic
versions to facilitate the reader’s access to them. Many of the web addresses
for these documents have changed since my research began; to facilitate the
reader’s access to these sources, I updated the citations in October 2014. The
URLs and contents pages provided in the notes and appendices to this book
may well change again; in this case, readers should use publication titles and
any additional information such as that given in the appendices to locate the
materials cited. Note also that the Church of Almighty God changes the titles
of its publications frequently, and the order of their contents. The organization
also revises its English translations, meaning that some quotations may not
always appear precisely as they do in the pages which follow.
Sincere thanks to the New Testament Church 新約教會 for kind permis-
sion to reproduce Figure 1, to He Qi 何琦 for Figure 5, and to Tian Feng 天风
magazine for generous provision of Figures 7 and 8.
Some of the material in Chapter 7 was first presented in my article “Netizens
of Heaven: Contesting Orthodoxies on the Chinese Protestant Web”, Asian
Studies Review 31, no. 4 (2007): 447–58; most of Chapter 4 appears as “The Big
Red Dragon and Indigenizations of Christianity in China”, East Asian History
36 (2008): 73–85 (http://www.eastasianhistory.org/). Some of the material and
arguments of this book were first presented in a more rudimentary form in
“ ‘Cult,’ Church and the CCP: Introducing Eastern Lightning”, Modern China 36,
no. 1 (2009): 96–119 (DOI 10.1177/0097700408320546). I thank the editorial com-
mittees and reviewers of these journals for their comments on drafts of these
articles; also the publishers for permission to reproduce the material here.
List of Figures
1 “Behold! God’s Chosen Prophet in the East!” New Testament Church

pamphlet, c. 2000 41
2 Origin of adherents in Eastern Lightning testimonies 59
3 Cover, Typical Cases of Leaders in Catholicism and Christianity in
Mainland China Who Resist Almighty God Being Punished (Church of
Almighty God, 2002) 81
4 “Michael Defeating the Demon” by Giuseppe Castiglione (18th
century) 104
5 “Moses Striking the Rock” by He Qi (2005) 114
6 Incidence of articles in Tian Feng magazine using terms xiejiao and
yiduan, 1994–1997 171
7 “Don’t Believe Lightly” (切勿轻信 qie wu qing xin), Tian Feng, May
1998 172
8 “Resist Evil Teachings” (抵制邪说 dizhi xieshuo), Tian Feng, September
1999 174
yiduan, 1994–2002 176
yiduan, 1994–2012 183
yiduan, 1994–2012 (modified) 184
12 Incidence of articles in Tian Feng magazine using the terms xiejiao and
yiduan, 1994–2013 (modified) 186
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
ANS Amity News Service

BBS Bulletin Board Systems (online discussion forums)
CACA Chinese Anti-Cult Association
CASS Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
CCC China Christian Council
CCP Chinese Communist Party
CGF China Gospel Fellowship
PRC People’s Republic of China
Protestant lianghui Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian
Council
SARA State Administration of Religious Affairs, formerly the
Religious Affairs Bureau
SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
TSPM Three-Self Patriotic Movement
For abbreviated book and periodical titles, refer to bibliography and

appendices.
CHAPTER 1
Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) and

Religion in China
Eastern Lightning, also known as The Church of Almighty God, is a new reli-
gious movement which teaches that Jesus Christ has returned to earth in the
form of a Chinese woman to judge humankind and end the present age. It
recalls its genesis in Henan province thus:
In 1991, a sister in the church was moved by and received word from the
Holy Spirit, and testified to ‘God’s name’ and ‘God’s arrival.’ Everyone was
excited, but did not understand what was going on. Then Christ began to
speak, issuing forth talks one after the other. People were passing them
around and felt they were the words of the Holy Spirit, and surely from
God.1
In May 1992, the magazine of the nationally-registered Protestant associa-

tions reported on the movement’s forays into Neixiang County of Henan prov-
ince in March of the previous year in less favorable terms. It assessed Eastern
Lightning as a “counter-revolutionary” organization based on its representing
the Chinese Communist Party as the demonic dragon of the Book of Revelation
from the Christian Bible. This article also recounted that the group had been
suppressed by the county government, and that the Religious Affairs Bureau
and registered Protestant organizations were now re-educating its followers.2
Eastern Lightning was evidently considered to be of little importance by the
magazine’s editors at the time, as the report occupied a single column on page
twenty-four. Indeed, it was just one among an array of new religious movements
that were emerging and operating in rural north China in the early 1990s. The
“flood” of “heterodox sects”—as the magazine had recently put it—had seen
numerous individuals claiming the ability to heal diseases and exorcise demons,
and warning that the end was nigh. A recent convert to Christianity in Guangxi
province, for example, claimed to have received divine revelation that heaven
1 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us], 2.

2 Xu Shengyi (许圣义), “Jingti pi zongjiao waiyide fandong zuzhi 警惕披宗教外衣的反动组
织” [Beware of reactionary organizations in religious garb], TF 5 (1992): 24. English transla-
tion: Xu Shengyi, “Beware of Wolves in Sheeps’ Clothing,” CSJ 7, no. 2 (1992): 64.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_002

2 CHAPTER 1
was about to collapse, and led one hundred followers to fell five hundred trees
and build a three-story ark in which to seek refuge.3 Other groups were
reported to harbor lethal potential; twenty farmers’ wives in Henan planned
to drink pesticide in order to ascend to Heaven.4 Eastern Lightning therefore
did not receive widespread attention from either Protestant organizations or
state authorities until the mid- to late-1990s. It was formally identified as a ‘cult’
(邪教 xiejiao; literally ‘heterodox teaching’) and proscribed by the Ministry of
Public Security in 1995. Despite this, it continued to prosper.
Chinese authorities began to pay considerably more attention to new
religious movements shortly before the turn of the millennium. Following
the gathering of Falun Gong practitioners outside the headquarters of the
Central Government on 25 April 1999 and the ensuing clampdown, Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) officials described Eastern Lightning as “another evil
force second only to the cultic organization of Falun Gong.”5 They accordingly
intensified their rhetoric against it and efforts to suppress it. Protestants’ atti-
tudes toward Eastern Lightning also galvanized in the final years of the mil-
lennium as more and larger ‘heretical’ movements anticipated the end of the
world, and Eastern Lightning expanded across China’s provinces. The antago-
nism between Eastern Lightning and Protestant churches peaked in 2002, when
Eastern Lightning kidnapped thirty-four members of a house church network
and held them against their will for two weeks in an attempt to convert them.6
As the first decade of the new millennium drew to a close, far fewer reports
of Eastern Lightning and similar movements emanated from China. The
eschatological anticipation surrounding the year 2000 had dissipated, and the
political and social campaigns against Falun Gong had also abated. However,
the lull ended in late 2012, when Chinese authorities arrested one thousand
members of Eastern Lightning for publicly proclaiming that the world would
end on December 21, in accordance with ancient Mayan prophecy. The move-
ment’s notoriety surged again in mid-2014 when six evangelists said to belong
to the group were arrested for murdering a woman in a McDonald’s restaurant.
3 Wei Kun, “ ‘Noah’s Ark’ in Luzhai,” Bridge 47 (1991): 14–15.

4 Lu Guangwen, “We Must Guard against Heterodox Sects,” CSJ 6, no. 2 (1991): 72–73.
5 “Shijiazhuangshi gong’anju yichu guanyu zhuanfa Hebeisheng gong’anting zongjiaochu Bi
Rongsheng fu chuzhang zai ‘807’ zhua nan xietiao huishang de jianghua de tongzhi 石家庄
市公安局一处关于转发河北省公安厅宗教处比荣生副处长在’807’抓南协调会上的
讲话的通知” [Announcement from the First Division of the Shijiazhuang Public Security
Bureau]. Available at http://www.china21.org/simpChinese/docs/shijiazhuang/index.htm.
Accessed May 15, 2010. Quotation from p. 3.
6 See http://www.chinaforjesus.com; also 155ff of this book.
Eastern Lightning and Religion in China 3
These spectacular incidents reignited discussions of new religious movements

related to Christianity in the Chinese media, and drew attention from interna-
tional news outlets.7
Interaction, rather than straightforward repression and resistance, has
increasingly characterized state-religion relations in China over the past thirty
years.8 From the beginning of the reform era, the CCP recognized that religion
would persist for the foreseeable future, and resolved that the Party should
therefore adopt a policy of toleration rather than extirpation.9 Accordingly,
the five official religions of Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism and
Catholicism were rehabilitated after having been proscribed during the
Cultural Revolution (1966–76). In addition to the registered religious associa-
tions, many unregistered religious communities have also been able to oper-
ate with relative impunity, enabled by factors such as their charitable works,
claimed status as ‘local custom’, and connections with local elites.10
At the same time, some forms of religious expression have been associated
with periods of political and social instability, and accordingly suppressed.
Riots erupt in Tibet and Xinjiang (as in March 2008 and July 2009 respectively),
and the government denounces ‘separatists’ for threatening national security.11
7 “Quanguo 1300 ren yin sanbo ‘shijie mori’ bei ju, Qinghai Guizhou zui duo 全国 1300
人因散播 ‘世界末日’ 被拘，青海贵州最多” [1300 detained for spreading “end of
the world” rumors; most in Qinghai and Guizhou]. Available at http://gz.people.com
.cn/GB/n/2012/1222/c194827-17902893.html. Accessed January 18, 2013; now defunct;
Terence McCoy, “The Murderous Chinese Cult that Thinks Jesus Has Returned—as a
Chinese Woman.” Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/
wp/2014/10/13/the-murderous-chinese-cult-that-thinks-jesus-has-returned-and-shes-
chinese/. Accessed October 15, 2014; Andrew Jacobs, “Chatter of Doomsday Makes Beijing
Nervous.” Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/world/asia/doomsday-chat
ter-makes-chinese-government-nervous.html?_r=0. Accessed February 14, 2013.
8 Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank, “Making Religion, Making the State in Modern China:
An Introductory Essay,” in Making Religion, Making the State: The Politics of Religion in
Modern China, ed. Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank (Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 2009), 2, passim.
9 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “Document 19: The Basic Viewpoint
on the Religious Question during Our Country’s Socialist Period [1982],” in Religion in
China Today: Policy and Pratice, ed. Donald E. MacInnis (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989).
10 Adam Yuet Chau, “The Politics of Legitimation and the Revival of Popular Religion in
Shaanbei, North-Central China,” Modern China 31, no. 2 (2005); Fenggang Yang, “The Red,
Black, and Gray Markets of Religion in China,” Sociological Quarterly 47, no. 1 (2006): 97–98.
11 The China Story Project, “Anxieties in Tibet and Xinjiang.” Available at http://www.
thechinastory.org/yearbooks/yearbook-2012/anxieties-in-tibet-and-xinjiang/. Accessed
March 9, 2014.
4 CHAPTER 1
In 2011, the Shouwang (守望) unregistered Protestant church frustrated

Beijing authorities when it met in public spaces in defiance of orders to shut
down. Most memorably, from April 1999, Falun Gong challenged the Chinese
state to an extent unseen since the Tiananmen confrontation a decade earlier.
Ten thousand practitioners gathered publicly to demand official recognition,
and since then the movement has encouraged followers to channel their ener-
gies against Chinese leaders. While the state has proven able to contain these
movements and maintain its central control, the possibility that this may not
remain the case is tantalizing for many within and beyond China’s borders.
This book is about another type of new religious movement that Chinese
authorities have also viewed as a serious concern for the past several decades.
These movements are loosely related to Protestantism, and have emerged in
China since the late 1970s. They recruit Protestants and espouse doctrines
that are regarded as heretical by both Protestant churches and the Chinese
state.12 The state’s labeling of them as ‘cults’ (邪教 xiejiao; literally, ‘heterodox
teachings’) places them in the same political category as Falun Gong, which is
not tolerated and cannot function in the open at all. The Chinese state regards
Eastern Lightning as posing a lesser threat than Falun Gong but as belonging
to the same fundamental category, which is theoretically distinct from unreg-
istered religious organizations and subject to a much higher degree of censure
and persecution.13
The political sensitivity surrounding new religious movements in China is
no doubt partly why this is the first monograph to offer a detailed account of
Eastern Lightning. Within China, the state’s campaign against Falun Gong has
spawned a profusion of publications on “cults flaunting the Protestant banner”
(打着基督教旗号的邪教 dazhe Jidujiao qihao de xiejiao).14 Chinese articles
generally cite the crimes and perils of new religions, locate their origins in rural
12 Early Catholic and Protestant missionaries translated their faiths as “the teachings of the
Lord of Heaven” (天主教 Tianzhu jiao) and “the teachings of Christ” (基督教 Jidu jiao)
respectively, thus giving Chinese audiences the impression of two different religions.
The distinction continues in religious practice, popular parlance and academia to this
day, and it is for this reason—together with the absence of Catholic influence upon the
new religious movements discussed here—that this book addresses Protestantism in
particular.
13 Vincent Goossaert and David A. Palmer, The Religious Question in Modern China (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2011), 340–42.
14 For example, contributions to Shehui wenti yanjiu congshu bianji weiyuanhui (社会
问题研究丛书编辑委员会), ed., Lun Xiejiao: Shoujie xiejiao wenti guoji yantaohui lun-
wenji 论邪教：首届邪教问题国际研讨会论文集 [On Cults: Proceedings of the First
International Conference on the Issue of Cults] (南宁: 广西人民出版社, 2001).
poverty and ignorance, and call for increased vigilance to combat them. Such
literature provides information on the organization and suppression of these
groups in selected locales, but rarely draws upon material produced by the
religious movements in question. Even social scientists at leading PRC tertiary
institutions have been unable to gain access to these due to their politically
sensitive nature.15
Anglophone studies of religion in China increasingly point to Protestant-
related new religious movements as holding the potential to foment politi-
cal protest and social instability,16 reflecting fragmentation within Chinese
Protestantism,17 and manifesting continuity with indigenous religious
traditions.18 However, these have been brief treatments, raised in the course
of discussing other topics. This book offers a sustained exploration of Eastern
Lightning’s teachings, activities and reception by considering five main ques-
tions: What does Eastern Lightning teach? How do these teachings relate to
those of other religions in China, both past and present? How is the religion
disseminated? To what extent has Eastern Lightning challenged the legiti-
macy of the government and Protestant churches, and how have these parties
responded to Eastern Lightning? The focus is squarely on Eastern Lightning—
15 Interviews with theologian of the official Protestant church and sociologist, Nanjing
and Shanghai respectively, May and April 2006. A noteworthy exception to most of the
Chinese scholarship in this field is Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi: Dangdai
Zhongguo xiejiao juhe jizhi yanjiu 邪教的秘密：当代中国邪教聚合机制研究 [Given
English title: The Secrecy of Evil Cult: A Study on the Regime of Evil Cult Assembly in Today’s
China] (北京：社会科学文献出版社, 2005). However, Wu uncritically adopts the
Chinese government’s discursive category of “cults” (xiejiao), and the reliability of some
of his sources is questionable (for example, interrogations of prisoners may have involved
coercion).
16 Jae Ho Chung, Hongyi Lai, and Ming Xia, “Mounting Challenges to Governance in China:
Surveying Collective Protestors, Religious Sects and Criminal Organizations,” China
Journal 56 (2006).
17 Daniel H. Bays, “Chinese Protestant Christianity Today,” China Quarterly 174 (2003): 496–
97; Richard Madsen, “Signs and Wonders: Christianity and Hybrid Modernity in China,” in
Christianity in Contemporary China: Socio-Cultural Perpectives, ed. Francis Khek Gee Lim
(London: Routledge, 2013), 22–24.
18 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 215–30; Kristin Kupfer, “Saints, Secrets, and Salvation:
Emergence of Spiritual-Religious Groups in China between 1978 and 1989,” in Christianity
in Contemporary China: Socio-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Francis Khek Gee Lim (London:
Routledge, 2013), 196–97; Goossaert and Palmer, Religious Question in Modern China, 384;
Daniel H. Bays, A New History of Christianity in China (West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell,
2012), 193–97.
6 CHAPTER 1
the most notorious group of its kind—but this book also illuminates dynam-
ics in religion in China more broadly, and the historical legacies which shape
them. While the Chinese government projects the image of a modern state
seeking to protect its citizens against a newly arising movement, its response
to new religious movements has been consistent with longer standing rela-
tions between such movements and Chinese rulers. Despite forming in the
early 1990s, Eastern Lightning likewise owes much to far older religious sensi-
bilities. These are associated not only with Christianity, but also with popular
religion.
Popular Religion
Chinese ‘popular religion’ (民间宗教 minjian zongjiao) is a vexed category,

used to encompass a multitude of beliefs and practices that vary widely
according to the individuals who engage with them, and the area and time in
which they live. This awkwardness is compounded by the fact that the con-
cept was not indigenous to China—the neologism ‘religion’ (宗教 zongjiao)
was imported from the West via Japan during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.19 In contrast to the paradigmatic ‘Western’ religion of
Christianity, popular religion was not enshrined in the imperial state appa-
ratus or distinctive social institutions, but was expressed in family and com-
munity contexts, or as C.K. Yang described it, “diffused”; “merged with . . . the
social order.”20 By the late imperial era, Confucianism enjoyed an unrivalled
status as the basis of the state’s ideology and bureaucratic system, and Daoism
and Buddhism were established ‘teachings’ (教 jiao). Those who engaged in
popular religion, however, were generally not concerned with delineating the
‘religious’ sphere from the rest of everyday life, or one religious tradition from
another.
Hence, now as in the past, the ‘three teachings’ of Buddhism, Daoism and
Confucianism figure in ritual and belief alongside an array of gods and god-
desses. Temples and shrines are devoted to gods associated with marriage, fertil-
ity and health, historical and legendary figures, local cults, and tutelary deities.
19 Vincent Goossaert, “Republican Church Engineering: The National Religious Associations
in 1912 China,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity and State Formation,
ed. Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 211–14;
Rebecca Nedostup, Superstitious Regimes: Religion and the Politics of Chinese Modernity
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2009), 7–8.
20 C.K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 20.
They coexist with practices such as geomancy (famously, 风水 fengshui), cal-

culating auspicious dates for certain activities, spirit healings, and exorcism.21
These traditions are not set forth in a fixed canon, but are transmitted orally
and in numerous scriptures imparted by mediums, as well as in books promot-
ing morality and miracle stories.22 The plurality of Chinese popular religion
reflects the overriding concern with magical or spiritual efficacy (灵 ling); a
variety of gods and rituals can be summoned to solve a problem.23 However,
this absence of exclusivity does not entail a lack of moral accountability for
the believer, as both good and evil will be repaid (报 bao), whether by gods,
karma or fate.24
In the nineteenth century, the central Qing state tended not to intervene in
popular religious practices, but left it to social actors and local officials to nego-
tiate their operation, or ignored them altogether.25 Throughout the twentieth
century, authorities and modernizers frequently regarded popular religion
as backward and ‘superstitious’ (迷信 mixin) due to its structural difference
from Western Christianity, which served as the normative model of ‘modern’
religion. Represented as antithetical not only to religion, but also to science
and modernity, the fortunes of popular religion therefore waxed and waned in
roughly inverse proportion to the strength of the state and its nation-building
enterprise.26 While some communities negotiated their coexistence with a
21 Henri Doré, Researches into Chinese Superstitions, trans. M. Kennelly S.J., vol. 5 (Shanghai:
T’usewei, 1918); Yang, Religion in Chinese Society; Ma Xisha (马西沙) and Han Bingfang
(韩秉方), Zhongguo minjian zongjiao shi 中国民间宗教史 [A history of Chinese pop-
ular religion] (上海：上海人民出版社, 1992); J.J.M. de Groot, The Religious System of
China, vol. 4, bk. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1901).
22 Gareth Fisher, “Morality Books and the Regrowth of Lay Buddhism in China,” in Religion
in Contemporary China: Revitalization and Innovation, ed. Adam Yuet Chau (London:
Routledge, 2011); Adam Yuet Chau, Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in
Contemporary China (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006), 48.
23 Chau, Miraculous Response, 2, 64–65.
24 Cynthia Joanne Brokaw, The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social Change and the Moral
Order in Late Imperial China (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991), 53; Lizhu
Fan and James D. Whitehead, “Spirituality in a Modern Chinese Metropolis,” in Chinese
Religious Life, ed. David A. Palmer, Glenn Shive, and Philip L. Wickeri (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2011), 15–17.
25 Vincent Goossaert, “Managing Chinese Religious Pluralism in Nineteenth-Century
City God Temples,” in Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China:
Transnational Religions, Local Agents, and the Study of Religion, 1800–present, ed. Thomas
Jansen, Thoralf Klein, and Christian Meyer (Leiden: Brill, 2014).
26 Nedostup, Superstitious Regimes, 5–9.
8 CHAPTER 1
new, secular national culture, many were subjected to heavy regulation and
anti-superstition drives, notably during the Nationalist Decade (1927–37).27
Popular religious activity was severely repressed during the Cultural
Revolution but has resurfaced in the post-Mao period, its exuberance evident
both in rural areas and in prosperous urban environments.28 Although popu-
lar religion remains susceptible to being labeled ‘superstitious’ under an athe-
ist regime, many communities have manoeuvred to gain legitimacy through
philanthropic service, or designation as ‘local custom’ or tourist site. The lived
religion continues to evolve, incorporating talismans of Chairman Mao, which
dangled from rearview mirrors in the mid-1990s.29
Heterodox Religions and the Chinese State
China has a rich history of rulers imposing their constructions of ‘orthodoxy’

and suppressing ‘heterodoxy.’ From the Western Han dynasty (206 BCe–9 CE),
Confucian orthodoxy dictated that the emperor be revered as the True Son of
Heaven, but religious movements sometimes arose to resist or oppose him.
Millenarian sects blossomed in rural north China and frequently erupted in
rebellion at times of social and economic crisis. The first such popular move-
ment was instigated by the Yellow Turbans in the eastern provinces of China in
184CE and contributed to the demise of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).30
The late imperial era saw the proliferation of sectarian societies that
involved a more deliberate and individual association than popular reli-
gion. By the mid-sixteenth century, these millenarian groups believed in an
‘Eternal Mother’ (無生老母 Wusheng laomu) who offered salvation through
bodhisattvas.31 As the predicted apocalypse approached, their proselytizing
27 Shuk-Wah Poon, Negotiating Religion in Modern China: State and Common People in
Guangzhou, 1900–1937 (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2011); Nedostup, Superstitious
Regimes.
28 Fan and Whitehead, “Spirituality in a Modern Chinese Metropolis.”
29 Chau, Miraculous Response, 51, passim.
30 Barbara Hendrichke, “Early Daoist Movements,” in Daoism Handbook, vol. 1, ed. Livia
Kohn (Leiden: Brill, 2000).
31 Daniel L. Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in Late Traditional China
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976), 1–2; Susan N. Naquin, “The Transmission
of White Lotus Sectarianism in Late Imperial China,” in Popular Culture in Late Imperial
China, ed. David G. Johnson, Andrew J. Nathan, and Evelyn Rawski (London: University of
California Press, 1985).
intensified.32 In 1774, Wang Lun proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of

the Buddha Maitreya sent by the Eternal Mother to rescue her children and led
a rebellion in Shandong; in 1813, members of the Eight Trigrams sect invaded
the Forbidden City.33 These and similar groups were most active in rural areas
of northern provinces such as Henan, which in the late twentieth century
also became a hive of popular Protestant fervor and the birthplace of Eastern
Lightning.34
The state referred to rebellious groups as “White Lotus Teachings” (白蓮教
Bailian jiao). The historical precedents set by this millenarian paradigm inform
contemporary interpretations, both of heterodox religious movements them-
selves and their relationship to the state. David Ownby, for example, has argued
that Falun Gong and qigong are “twentieth-century elaborations of a set of
historical popular religious traditions generally labeled by scholars as ‘White
Lotus Sectarianism.’ ”35 However, the supposition that they constituted a cohe-
sive tradition has been famously problematized by Barend Ter Haar, who has
shown ‘White Lotus’ to be a label that was applied indiscriminately to almost
any group that was considered heterodox—i.e., at odds with the Confucian
canon—by the imperial rulers.36 In his stead, Benjamin Penny points out that
similarity between religious movements is not necessarily indicative of a “kin-
ship relation.”37
Today, the Chinese state adds to the sense of similarity between Protestant-
related new religious movements and previous heterodox groups by using the
same vocabulary to label them. As Ter Haar has again shown, from the mid-
Ming period the label of “heterodox teachings” (邪教 xiejiao) was central to
the state’s treatment of heterodox religions, and served “to help in determining
the course of action to be taken by the institution in control of ideology.”38
32 Susan N. Naquin, Millenarian Rebellion in China: The Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813 (New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976), 17.
33 Ibid.; Susan N. Naquin, Shantung Rebellion: The Wang Lun Uprising of 1774 (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1981).
34 J.J.M. de Groot, Sectarianism and Religious Persecution in China: A Page in the History of
Religions (Amsterdam: Johannes Muller, 1903), 152; Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, 225.
35 David Ownby, “A History for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese State since the
Ming Dynasty,” Nova Religio 6, no. 2 (2003): 223. See also David Ownby, Falun Gong and the
Future of China (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 24–25.
36 B.J. ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History (Honolulu: University
of Hawai’i Press, 1999 [1992]).
37 Benjamin Penny, The Religion of Falun Gong (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012),
27–29.
38 ter Haar, White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, 13–14.
10 CHAPTER 1
Thus, the significance of today’s Protestant-related new religious movements

is partly that they demonstrate continuity rather than difference. Even as popu-
lar media and academic studies rightly make much of the rapid pace of China’s
social transformations, this book reminds us that issues of orthodoxy and het-
erodoxy remain at the core of Chinese religion and the state’s regulation of it.
Eastern Lightning and the Making of Chinese Christianity
Wherever it has taken root since its nascent days in Jerusalem, Christianity
has changed—and been changed by—the cultures with which it has come in
contact. Despite often being thought of as a Western religion, it became such
only after a long period of accommodation and adaptation. This process was
reflected in artistic depictions of Jesus Christ, church architecture, and doc-
trinal interpretations. In the Germanic lands of Western Europe during the
Middle Ages, for example, Jesus became a “blond Aryan”, and “the biblical
LORD became a feudal lord.”39 More recently, African Christians have followed
indigenous conventions by giving God vernacular names, Pentecostals in Latin
America have retained the authoritarian leadership and patronage networks
found in popular culture, and some Koreans have depicted Jesus as a liberator
from hatred (han) along the lines of a traditional shaman (mudang).40
Christianity has been undergoing a process of inculturation in China from
first contact in the seventh century, when Nestorian missionaries from Syria
translated their teachings using Buddhist and Daoist terms (Buddhism itself
having been of foreign origin).41 The Jesuit missionaries of the sixteenth cen-
tury became famed for their attitude of accommodation towards Chinese cul-
tural practices, styling themselves as Chinese scholars and Buddhist priests so
as to facilitate the acceptance of their teachings among the Chinese elite.42 By
the mid-eighteenth century, Christianity had become a local religion in at least
39 Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011), 7.
40 Andrew F. Walls, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission
and Appropriation of Faith (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002), 120–21; David Martin, Tongues of
Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990), 282;
Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, The Jesus of Asian Women (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006), 100.
41 Bays, New History of Christianity in China, 10. I consider “indigenization,” “inculturation,”
and “contextualization” to be largely synonymous, although the latter two are used pri-
marily by theologians.
42 Liam Matthew Brockey, Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579–1724
(Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007), 33, 68.
some places.43 This was aided by the elite persecution of Christianity as het-
erodoxy; officials often associated Catholicism with ‘White Lotus’ groups due
to its departure from the official orthodoxy and similarities in the social back-
ground of adherents.44 The association was not entirely unfounded: from the
early eighteenth century significant numbers of converts to Catholicism were
in fact drawn from popular religious sects, resulting in the “cross-fertilization”
of religious traditions.45 Suspicions about the heterodox nature of Catholicism
culminated in the Yongzheng emperor’s proscription of the religion in 1724.
A century of persecution ensued, which assisted the process of localization
by binding Christians together as they hid alongside each other.46 Laamann
assesses that by 1800, Catholicism in China had become “largely independent
of foreign influence.”47
The stigma of Christianity’s foreign origin was reinforced following the
Opium Wars of the mid-nineteenth century. The first Protestant missionary
had arrived in China in 1807, but the post-war treaties facilitated an influx of
missionaries and subsequent growth in the number of Chinese Protestants.
During these decades, the Taiping rebellion (1851–64) also demonstrated
that syncretic brands of Protestantism could hold popular appeal and wreak
social and political havoc on a gigantic scale. Hong Xiuquan 洪秀全 (1814–64)
received revelation that he was Jesus’ younger brother and was entrusted with
establishing God’s kingdom on earth. While using Protestant vocabulary and
annotating portions of the Bible, Hong’s doctrine bore traces of an array of
other religious, philosophical and cultural traditions including Buddhism,
Daoism, Confucianism, and secret societies such as the Heaven and Earth
Society (天地会 Tiandi hui).48 His Taiping Army slaughtered some twenty mil-
lion people, took control of large areas of southern China, and came within
one hundred miles of the imperial capital, Beijing. Chinese officials today extol
the Taipings as forerunners of Communist peasant uprisings, but awareness of
43 Lars Peter Laamann, Christian Heretics in Late Imperial China: Christian Inculturation and
State Control, 1720–1850 (London: Routledge, 2006), 25.
44 ter Haar, White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, 220.
45 Laamann, Christian Heretics in Late Imperial China, 23ff. See also Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, The
Bible and the Gun (New York: Routledge, 2002), 34–36.
46 Eugenio Menegon, Ancestors, Virgins and Friars: Christianity as a Local Religion in Late
Imperial China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 2009), 9.
47 Laamann, Christian Heretics in Late Imperial China, 70.
48 Eugene Powers Boardman, Christian Influence upon the Ideology of the Taiping Rebellion,
1851–1864 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1952); Vincent Y.C. Shih, The Taiping
Ideology: Its Sources, Interpretations, and Influences (Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 1967).
12 CHAPTER 1
this rebellion also surely contributes to official apprehension towards quasi-

Christian movements and Christianity in general.
Chinese Protestantism saw continued growth and greater diversity in the
early twentieth century. Notably, up to 150 Pentecostal missionaries arrived in
China between 1908 and 1915, around a decade after the birth of the religion
in North America.49 Their converts went on to found indigenous Pentecostal
sects such as the Jesus Family,50 the True Jesus Church51 and the Little Flock.52
The theological conservatism, millenarianism and evangelistic zeal of these
movements proved attractive, and by the 1940s independent churches, many
of which were Pentecostal, accounted for perhaps 20–25 percent of all Chinese
Protestants.53 At the same time, elements of Christianity were being popular-
ized by syncretic sects.54
Despite the harsh persecution of Christianity in the People’s Republic of
China up until the late 1970s, the number of Protestants grew from around
seven hundred thousand in 1949 to three million in 1982.55 Chinese
Protestantism has seen dramatic grow over the last thirty years. The official
church currently estimates that China has between 23 million and 40 million
49 Allan Anderson, Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism
(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2007), 138; Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 45–46.
50 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 64–84.
51 Lian Xi, “A Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China: The Launch of the True Jesus
Church in the Early Twentieth Century,” Modern China 34, no. 4 (2008): 407–8.
52 Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, “Watchman Nee and the Little Flock Movement in Maoist China,”
Church History 74, no. 1 (2005); Daniel H. Bays, “The Growth of Independent Christianity
in China, 1900–1937,” in Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present,
ed. Daniel H. Bays (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996); Lian Xi, Redeemed by
Fire, 155–78.
53 Daniel H. Bays, “Indigenous Protestant Churches in China, 1900–1937: A Pentecostal Case
Study,” in Indigenous Responses to Western Christianity, ed. Steven Kaplan (New York:
New York University Press, 1995), 126.
54 Lian Xi, “Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China,” 433, passim; Philip Clart, “Jesus
in Chinese Popular Sects,” in The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ, vol. 3b, ed. Roman Malek
(Sankt Augustin, Germany: Monumenta Serica Institute & China-Zentum, 2007), 1317,
1330; Thomas Jansen, “Sectarian Religions and Globalization in Nineteenth-Century
China: The Wanbao baojuan 萬寶寶卷 (1858) and Other Examples,” in Globalization and
the Making of Religious Modernity in China: Transnational Religions, Local Agents, and the
Study of Religion, 1800–Present, ed. Thomas Jansen, Thoralf Klein, and Christian Meyer
(Leiden: Brill, 2014), 128–30.
55 Yang, “Red, Black, and Gray Markets of Religion in China,” 103.
Protestants,56 while Western commentators double those figures based on

their knowledge of unregistered ‘house’ churches (家庭教会 jiating jiaohui).57
Much of Chinese Protestantism continues to be characterized by personal
experience of miraculous events (chiefly, faith healing and visions), literal
interpretation of the Bible, Pentecostal forms of worship and eschatological
expectation.58 This ecstatic brew prevails in rural areas, and is contrasted with
the somewhat more measured evangelicalism of urban churches frequented
by young intellectuals and those run by entrepreneur ‘boss Christians.’59
Is Eastern Lightning another step along the path to the indigenization of
Protestantism in China? This is an important question, in part because indi-
genization is central to the politics of legitimation for Chinese Christians.
Despite the transformation of Catholicism into a local religion in the
eighteenth century and the insistence of indigenous churches in the early
twentieth century that they were independent of foreign missions, the ‘official’
Protestant and Catholic associations were founded in the early 1950s on the
assertion that Christianity was a ‘foreign religion’ (洋教 yangjiao) in China.
Founded on an anti-imperialist ideology, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
(三自爱国适动 San zi aiguo yundong; TSPM) sought to be “self-supporting,
self-propagating and self-governing” (自养、自传、自治 ziyang, zichuan,
zizhi)—goals that had, ironically, been espoused by English missionaries in the
early nineteenth century.60 The TSPM has served as the legal Protestant asso-
ciation and has governed registered Protestant congregations at the national,
provincial and county levels since that time except for during the Cultural
Revolution, when all forms of religious expression were repressed.
56 Jiang Hongbing (姜泓冰), “Zhongguo Jidutu renshu zai 2300 wan zhi 4000 wan zhijian
中国基督徒人数在 2300 万至 4000 万之间” [Chinese Christians number between 23
million and 40 million]. Available at http://www.mzb.com.cn/html/report/140822760-1.
htm. Accessed September 3, 2014.
57 Tony Lambert, China’s Christian Millions (Oxford: Monarch, 2006), 19; Jason Kindopp,
“Policy Dilemmas in China’s Church-State Relations: An Introduction,” in God and Caesar
in China: Policy Implications of Church-State Tensions, ed. Jason Kindopp and Carol Lee
Hamrin (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), 2; Pew Research Center,
“Table: Christian Population in Numbers by Country.” Available at http://www.pewforum
.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-in-numbers-by-country/. Accessed July 24,
2014.
58 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 2.
59 Cf. Nanlai Cao, Constructing China’s Jerusalem: Christians, Power and Place in Contemporary
Wenzhou (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010).
60 Philip L. Wickeri, Seeking the Common Ground: Protestant Christianity, the Three-Self
Movement, and China’s United Front (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1988), 37.
14 CHAPTER 1
Today the TSPM maintains that Protestantism was “unfortunately linked

with Western colonial expansion and aggression” during the nineteenth cen-
tury and was therefore largely rejected by Chinese people.61 Chinese scholars
and TSPM theologians therefore insist that the TSPM is the proper embodi-
ment of and vehicle for the indigenization of Protestantism. They contrast
the ‘indigenous’ TSPM and its theology that is ‘adapted to socialist society’
(与社会主义相适应 yu shehui zhuyi xiang shiying) with house churches and
Protestant-related new religious movements, which are frequently alleged to
have shady foreign connections.62
In fact, churches operating at a popular level away from the national, offi-
cial Protestant organizations have undertaken indigenization more organi-
cally, developing their own styles of worship and organization as they have
been largely independent of foreign missions since the early 1950s (and in
some cases, much earlier). One of the keys to Christianity’s success has been
its congruence with—and often, adoption of—elements and forms of popular
religion and earlier heterodox sects.63 The overlap has included charismatic
phenomena, to the extent that it often seems not that foreign Christianity
has transformed Chinese culture, but that “the robust religious culture of the
Chinese enchanted world . . . has to a great degree transformed Western ‘fun-
damentalist’ Christianity into its own likeness.”64 Thus, Protestantism is “no
longer a foreign religion”, but a popular, Chinese religion.65
61 CCC/TSPM, “Lianghui jianjie‘两会’简介” [A brief introduction to the CCC and TSPM].
Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/quanguolianghui/lianghuijianjie.html. Accessed
September 3, 2014.
62 For example, Duan Qi (段琦), Fenjin de licheng: Zhongguo jidujiao de bensehua 奋进的
历程:中国基督教的本色化 [A spirited journey: The indigenization of Christianity in
China] (北京：商务印书馆, 2004); Ni Guangdao (倪光道), “Shenxue chujinghua yu
sanzi aiguo yundong 神学处境化与三自爱国适动” [Theological contextualization
and the TSPM]. Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/church/semin/2010/831/10831412
.html. Accessed August 22, 2013.
63 Bays, New History of Christianity in China, 193–94; Richard Madsen, “Beyond Orthodoxy:
Catholicism as Chinese Folk Religion,” in China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful
Future, ed. Stephen Uhalley and Xiaoxin Wu (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2001); Leung
Ka-lun (梁家麟), “Suben qingyuan: Jidujiao xinxing jiaopai yu Zhongguo jiaohui huiying
溯本清源：基督教新興教派與中國教會回應” [Given English title: “Christian Sects
and the Chinese Churches (sic) Response”], 中宣文集 [Given English title: CMS Journal ]
6 (2006): 29, 14ff.
64 Madsen, “Signs and Wonders,” 23.
65 Quotation from Cao, Constructing China’s Jerusalem, 7. Also Peter Tze Ming Ng, “From
‘Christianity in China’ to ‘Chinese Christianity’: Changing Paradigms and Changing
Perspectives,” in Christianity in Contemporary China: Sociocultural Perspectives, ed. Francis
Eastern Lightning is an extension of this phenomenon. Its use of indigenous

traditions is more forthright than popular Christianity, and it modifies Christian
teaching more radically, supplanting Jesus Christ with a Female Christ who is
redolent of an indigenous goddess. Hence, Protestants join Chinese authori-
ties in viewing Eastern Lightning as an aberration, and categorically different
to orthodox or ‘normal’ Christianity. Nevertheless, Eastern Lightning reflects
and contributes to the localization of Christian-related symbols and practices.
As we shall see, it does this in ways that are creative and that resonate with
Chinese religious history.
Notes on Key Terms
‘Eastern Lightning’
The first report of Eastern Lightning that I have found was written in 1992
about activities in March 1991, and refers to it as “the Church of the Lord of
New Abilities” (新能力主教会 Xin nengli zhu jiaohui).66 In the year 2000, an
internal government report stated that this organization “evolved” into Eastern
Lightning after authorities in Heilongjiang banned it.67 The appellation
‘Eastern Lightning’ (东方闪电 Dongfang shandian, occasionally also trans-
lated as ‘Oriental Lightning’ or ‘Lightning from the East’) was first recorded
by Chinese Christian publications in the mid-late 1990s.68 It was undoubtedly
derived from the title of Eastern Lightning’s scripture in circulation at the time,
Lightning from the East (东方发出的闪电 Dongfang fachu de shandian);69 as
Chapter 3 of this book explains, this title is taken in turn from a verse in the
Gospel of Matthew. Less frequently, people outside the group have also referred
Khek Gee Lim (London: Routledge, 2013); Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 8; Madsen, “Signs and
Wonders,” 22–26.
66 Xu Shengyi (许圣义), “Jingti pi zongjiao waiyide fandong zuzhi 警惕披宗教外衣的
反动组织” [Beware of reactionary organizations in religious garb], TF 5 (1992): 24. The
group is clearly identifiable as Eastern Lightning as the article mentions its scripture title
and characteristic doctrines.
67 “Notice on Various Issues Regarding Identifying and Banning of Cultic Organizations,”
Chinese Law and Government 36, no. 2 (2003 [2000]): 26.
68 “New Attempt to Crack Down on Cults,” CSJ 11, no. 2 (1996): 49; TF 11 (1997): 23–26. “Notice
on Various Issues” reports that ‘Eastern Lightning’ was proscribed in 1995, suggesting that
the term had been used by officials prior to that, but the original document has not been
made public (26–27).
69 This title is mentioned in three articles in TF 11 (1997): 23–26.
16 CHAPTER 1
to it by the name of 实际神 Shiji shen, which English translations render “Real
God” or “Practical God.”
For most of its history, Chinese Christians, the media and authorities have
refrained from using the group’s autonym of ‘Church of Almighty God’ (全能神
教会 Quannengshen jiaohui), probably because they do not consider it a legiti-
mate ‘church.’ They began to refer to the group as ‘The Cult of Almighty God’
(全能神邪教 Quannengshen xiejiao) in late 2012,70 perhaps to heighten public
vigilance against the group without giving it ‘church’ status. Western media
have been slightly more tolerant, and recently began to adopt the autonym.71
I choose to refer to the new religious movements discussed in this book
in a manner consistent with most of the existing publications in the Chinese
and English languages (i.e., mostly “Eastern Lightning” rather than “Church
of Almighty God”). While wary of imposing an exogenous term, particularly
one that has been wielded in denigrating contexts, I do so here for the sake of
clarity—navigating the terrain of Chinese religion is arduous enough with-
out further obfuscation by differences in naming. To be frank, I also think the
shorter version reads and types better! Works produced by Eastern Lightning
are nevertheless referenced as authored by the “Church of Almighty God,”
since these words are printed on materials generated by the group.
‘Heterodoxy’ et al.
This book follows existing scholarship in using the adjective ‘orthodox’ to
translate the Chinese word 正 zheng and refer to religions that are supported
by the state, and ‘heterodox’ to translate the Chinese word 邪 xie and refer to
religions that are repressed by it.72 ‘Heterodox Protestantism’ thus refers not
to groups that depart from religious norms or my own personal preferences, but
to those forms of Protestantism that the state seeks to suppress—including,
on occasion, unregistered ‘house’ churches.
It is difficult to translate the Chinese term xiejiao in a way that encapsulates
both its contemporary and historical usages, and so I mostly retain the Chinese
original. Other times, I use the literal translation of ‘heterodox teachings’ for
70 For example, “Qing Qian zhuahuo 700 yu ‘quannengshen’ xiejiao renyuan 青黔抓获
700 余‘全能神’ 邪教人员” [Over 700 members of “Almighty God” cult arrested in
Qinghai and Guizhou]. Available at http://newspaper.jfdaily.com/jfrb/html/2012-12/20/
content_942877.htm. Accessed January 17, 2013.
71 Jacobs, “Chatter of Doomsday Makes Beijing Nervous.”
72 Hubert Seiwert, Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History
(Leiden: Brill, 2003), 2, 454–55; Kwang-Ching Liu and Richard Shek, “Introduction,” in
Heterodoxy in Late Imperial China, ed. Kwang-Ching Liu and Richard Shek (Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i, 2004), 1; Ma Xisha (马西沙) and Han Bingfang (韩秉方), Zhongguo
minjian zongjiao shi 中国民间宗教史, 7.
late imperial contexts, and ‘cults’ for the mid-1990s onwards, so as to reflect
the Chinese government’s relatively recent attempts to align its opposition to
new religious movements with global anti-cult discourses. Since 1999, Chinese
government organs have frequently rendered xiejiao as “evil cults” and so this
more pejorative term, too, is occasionally used to reflect the ire with which the
state regards new religious movements.
I use the term ‘heresy’ to approximate the Chinese yiduan (异端) and to
indicate one religious association’s negative assessment of another’s teach-
ings. While this term was ubiquitous in the political persecution of heterodox
groups during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, it car-
ries more of a religious flavor in contemporary Chinese usage, as material in
Chapter 7 illustrates.
‘Official’ and ‘House’ Churches

In this book, the term ‘Protestant’ refers to both official and unofficial
churches. The TSPM resents the descriptor of ‘official church’ (官方教会
guanfang jiaohui). While it is true that the TSPM is not a government organ, it
is the Protestant church organization sanctioned by Chinese religious policy,
and ‘official churches’ or ‘registered churches’ reflects their status with the
State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA).73 ‘Unregistered’ or ‘unoffi-
cial churches,’ then, refers to congregations that are not registered with SARA.
These congregations are also called ‘house churches’ (家庭教会 jiating jiao-
hui), even though many of these churches meet in venues other than houses
(for example, caves, fields, hotels or even factories), and boast a very large
attendance. Some TSPM gatherings take place in homes and are registered as
‘meeting points’ (聚会点 juhui dian) with SARA; for the purposes of this book,
however, they are considered ‘official churches’ rather than ‘house churches.’
‘Protestants’ and ‘Protestant-related New Religious Movements’

I refer to Eastern Lightning and similar groups as ‘Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements.’ In so doing I follow scholars of religion who since the 1960s
have chosen to use the term ‘new religious movement’ in preference to ‘cult’ or
‘sect’, so as to avoid the negative connotations of the latter terms.
73 The State Administration of Religious Affairs, formerly known as the Religious Affairs
Bureau, is a government department administered by the State Council. Broadly speaking,
it holds administrative control over religious organizations, and is responsible for imple-
menting religious policy (as prescribed by the CCP’s United Front Work Department) and
enforcing regulations on religion. Specifically, SARA registers and inspects religious ven-
ues, and authorizes the appointment of ministers of religion.
18 CHAPTER 1
That said, the term ‘new religious movements’ is arguably a misnomer. One
of this book’s central arguments is that Eastern Lightning is not entirely ‘new’;
though it has emerged in the past twenty years and boasts a website, it draws
on a sectarian paradigm that is very well-established. As will be addressed in
Chapter 5, many Chinese assessments also deny that the religious groups dis-
cussed here are ‘religious.’ Further, the extent to which some of them can be
considered ‘movements’ is also questionable given lapses in communication
and coordination between congregations in different areas. The term ‘new reli-
gious movements’ must therefore be read with these caveats in mind.74
I describe the new religious movements discussed here as ‘Protestant-
related’ to acknowledge their simultaneous borrowing of and departure from
doctrinal and ritual elements of Protestantism. I use ‘Protestant’ rather than
‘Christian’ because Protestantism and Catholicism are distinct traditions
in China; the groups discussed here have no links to Catholicism other than
a handful of converts.
Given that new religious movements adopt Christian vocabulary, and in
many cases claim to be essentially Protestant (just a purer version than those
that have hitherto been on offer), the boundaries between ‘house church’ and
‘new religious movement’ can be difficult to discern, and in some cases may be
more theoretical than empirical. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge
the differing relationships these groups have with Protestant traditions, as they
themselves do.
Three main factors distinguish new religious movements from Protestant
churches. The first is a substantially new or revised doctrine in relation to
Christianity—chiefly, the claims that Christ has come again or that the Bible
has been superseded by another text. The second factor in this book’s treat-
ment of certain groups as ‘new religious movements’ is the consensus of
Chinese Protestant publications and online discussions. New religious move-
ments generally have a high degree of tension with both the TSPM and house
churches, and Christian opinion is seldom divided on whether a certain group
is orthodox in its religion. The third factor germane to identifying ‘new reli-
gious movements’ is their degree of tension with the Chinese state. While there
has been an expansion in the expressions of Protestantism that are either offi-
cially permitted or occupy an ambiguous legal status but operate relatively
undisturbed, the Chinese government has banned the movements discussed
here in no uncertain terms. The bellicosity is mutual. Whereas the resurgence
74 For further discussion, see George D. Chryssides, Exploring New Religions (London:
Cassell, 1999), 11–18.
of religion in China since Mao has been marked by “quiescence and accom-
modation with the state,”75 new religious movements are hostile towards the
government.
Accessing Eastern Lightning
This book has a textual focus. It examines written statements and publica-
tions for what they tell us about the doctrines, documents and experiences of
Eastern Lightning and the responses of the Chinese state and Protestants to it.
Whereas most Protestant-related new religious movements reportedly either
have no scriptures of their own or circulate them only in relatively remote
communities, a small number of Eastern Lightning followers has moved to the
USA and set up websites which boast scriptures, hymns, sermons, testimonies
and church regulations.76 This has proven a windfall for researching a move-
ment that is illegal in China.
Admittedly, it is unclear how many Eastern Lightning followers engage with
its websites. In the first instance, residing primarily in rural regions of northern
China (particularly Henan and Anhui provinces), many adherents fall on the
disadvantaged side of the ‘digital divide.’ The internet penetration rate in rural
China reached 29 percent by the end of 2013, having increased exponentially
over the past decade. Nevertheless, agricultural workers—who are reported
to be a major source of adherents for new religious movements—made up
just 7 percent of internet users.77 Second, potential users may be deterred by
government regulations, which prohibit accessing Eastern Lightning’s website.
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on
Maintaining Internet Security passed in December 2000 states that “in order to
protect national security and social stability”, anyone who “uses the Internet
to organize a cultic organization or contact members of a cultic organization”
75 Mayfair Mei-hui Yang, “Introduction,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity

and State Formation, ed. Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang (Berkeley: University of California Press,
2008), 5.
76 As of mid-2014 Eastern Lightning’s website was at www.hidden-advent.org (simplified
Chinese characters), www.godfootsteps.org (traditional Chinese characters), www.holy
spiritspeaks.org (English) and http://kr.kingdomsalvation.org/ (Korean). For more on
Eastern Lightning’s earlier websites, see Emily C. Dunn, “Netizens of Heaven: Contesting
Orthodoxies on the Chinese Protestant Web,” Asian Studies Review 31, no. 4 (2007).
77 China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), “Statistical Report on Internet
Development in China.” Available at http://www1.cnnic.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/
201404/U020140417607531610855.pdf. Accessed August 16, 2014.
20 CHAPTER 1
will be prosecuted.78 Eastern Lightning’s websites are blocked in the PRC. The
‘Great Firewall of China’ can be circumvented by using a computer outside
China as a proxy server (for example, via a virtual private network), but Eastern
Lightning’s texts suggest that few followers connect with the group through
the internet.
Fortunately, comparison of the texts available from Eastern Lightning’s
website with hard copies distributed by the group in the PRC confirms that
the material on the internet is the same as that circulating on the ground.79
The web content is also consistent with other reports of Eastern Lightning’s
teachings and activities, such as Chinese newspapers and Protestant articles.
Thus, it can be supposed that Eastern Lightning’s website does indeed reflect
the group’s ‘official’ doctrine, from which individuals’ beliefs and practices may
nevertheless diverge considerably.
The corpus of Eastern Lightning texts includes several genres, all of which
are discussed at appropriate junctures throughout this book. The most sacred
of Eastern Lightning’s texts, its scripture, is The Word Appears in the Flesh
(话在肉身显现 Hua zai roushen xianxian), which was written between 1991
and 1997. Adherents hold this volume to be the “Word of the Almighty God”
(全能神的话语 Quannengshen de huayu), and to contain the teachings of
the Female Christ as either enunciated or written by her. It has periodically
been published under different titles to avoid detection by Chinese security
forces and wary Protestants; earlier, partial editions of The Word Appears in the
Flesh were titled Lightning from the East (东方发出的闪电 Dongfang fachu
de shandian) and The Holy Spirit Speaks to the Churches (圣灵向众教会说话
Shengling xiang zhong jiaohui shuohua).
Besides the general attribution to the Almighty God and Female Christ,
no information about the authors or transcribers of The Word Appears in
the Flesh is given. Some sections are written from “God’s” point of view and
others in the third person, suggesting multiple contributors. All are written
in modern Chinese prose, are often colloquial, highly polemical, and have a
78 Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (全国人民代表大会常务委

员会), “Quanguo renmin daibiao dahui changwu weiyuanhui guanyu weihu hulian-
wang anquan de jueding 全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于维护互联网安全
的决定” [Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on
maintaining internet security]. Available at http://news.xinhuanet.com/it/2006-04/30/
content_4495376.htm. Accessed August 20, 2013. Refer to Article 2.4.
79 In 2006 I obtained hard copies of several Eastern Lightning texts by ordering them from
its website. They are consistent with reports of Eastern Lightning’s texts emanating from
the PRC mainland, and copies distributed in Hong Kong.
distinctly northern Chinese flavor. A limited range of tones and themes domi-
nates the pages—praising God and jubilation at the coming of the new era,
chastisement of believers, and vitriolic pronouncements against unbelievers.
In an attempt to reach English speakers, Eastern Lightning began to provide
(clumsy) English translations of selected portions of The Word Appears in the
Flesh in early 2006. The translators’ preface to this conceded that that “none
of us is a linguist or has a good command of our mother tongue”;80 indeed,
Eastern Lightning’s scriptures, sermons and essays are repetitive, verbose, ram-
bling in structure and frequently opaque in meaning. In this respect, and their
bureaucratic tone, they resemble the type of writing and speeches which pre-
vailed during the Cultural Revolution.81
In addition to The Word Appears in the Flesh, sermons, testimonies, hymns
and instructions pertaining to church activities are also used by Eastern
Lightning believers. These are regarded as possessing lesser religious author-
ity than the scriptures, but are helpful in clarifying how Eastern Lightning’s
leaders understand the teachings. Hymns are of two varieties. The lyrics of the
Hymns from God’s Word (神话诗歌 Shenhua shige) are passages of scripture,
while the words of the Kingdom Praises (国度的赞美 Guodu de zanmei) have
been written about the “life experiences” of adherents.82 Both have been set to
the tunes of folk, pop and or Communist propaganda songs and are thus simi-
lar to Christian Songs of Canaan (迦南诗歌 Jia’nan shige), which were penned
by Henan peasant Lü Xiaomin 吕小敏 from 1989 and are now used widely in
house churches throughout China.
Still other types of literature generated by Eastern Lightning are used for
proselytizing and apologetics. Texts for this purpose include answers to fre-
quently asked questions, essays that attempt to refute detractors’ criticisms of
the movement, an “About Us” statement, and anthologies of anecdotes that
relate tales of divine retribution, dreams and visions. As these texts are used to
represent the movement to outsiders, they give insight into the kinds of narra-
tives Eastern Lightning believes will attract people to the religion, and bestow
legitimacy in the Chinese religious context.
Reports from Chinese state and Protestant sources provide supplementary
information on Eastern Lightning. The magazine of the national Protestant
80 Church of Almighty God, The Scroll that the Lamb Opened: From “The Word Has Appeared
in the Flesh” (short title: SLO), xiii.
81 Lowell Dittmer and Chen Ruoxi, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Berkeley:
University of California, 1981), 45.
82 Together, these two collections of hymns appear as Church of Almighty God, Gensuizhe
gaoyang chang xin’ge 跟随着羔羊唱新歌 [Sing a new song with the Lamb].
22 CHAPTER 1
associations, theological journals and online discussion forums narrate the

conflict between Protestants and new religious movements. Newspapers
inform of suppression and reeducation at a local level, and leaked state docu-
ments published by US-based non-government organizations in 2002 provide
insight into the state’s concerns about Eastern Lightning at the turn of the
millennium.83 In all of these materials, Eastern Lightning and other new reli-
gious movements are represented as criminal, and morally and theologically
corrupt. Cult leaders rape women and engage in fraud; members use decep-
tive means to recruit new members; the groups’ theology is undeveloped and
outrageously unbiblical, and while cults are seriously dangerous, there is also
an overriding sense of incredulity that anyone would join these movements.
Accusations made against new religious movements must be viewed with
circumspection. This is no less the case when they are supported by the state-
ments of ‘cult’ leaders who are now in prison,84 as accusations of coercion have
been made by their supporters.85 The primary contribution of these materials
to this book therefore lies in informing us about their authors’ perceptions and
depictions of new religious movements, and the possible ideologies and inter-
ests behind them.
Protestant-related new religious movements such as Eastern Lightning
are deemed by the Chinese Communist Party to be illegal organizations that
are to be diligently suppressed. For this reason, no attempt was made to con-
tact Eastern Lightning adherents within the PRC, or to conduct participant-
observation fieldwork on this subject. I did, however, hold conversations on
the topic with approximately two dozen academics, theologians and a smaller
number of Protestants over three months in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and
Nanjing in 2006. Their names are not given in this book in accordance with
their wishes. In addition to activities in China, there are reports of Eastern
83 These documents were first released by Li Shixiong and Fu Xiqiu (Bob Fu), Religion and
National Security in China: Secret Documents from China’s Security Sector (New York:
Committee for the Investigation of the Persecution of Religion in China, 2002). Reprinted
in Chinese Law and Government 36 (3): 2003. The leaking of these documents did not elicit
a response from Chinese officials, but they have nevertheless been treated as authentic by
recent scholarship on religion in China.
84 For example, Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, passim; CCTV News,
“Cult member: Murdered Woman an ‘Evil Spirit.’ ” Available at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=xSb67nOPEhg. Accessed September 22, 2014.
85 The daughter of the executed leader of the Three Grades of Servant movement claimed
that her father’s confessions had been obtained under torture. Anthony Kuhn, “China
Gives Christian Trio Death Terms in Killings,” in All Things Considered (National Public
Radio, July 8, 2006).
Lightning adherents in North America.86 Archived versions of the group’s web-

site listed an address in New York, which I visited in early 2005. The address was
a suburban home in an area heavily populated by Chinese migrants. Residents
claimed to have no knowledge of any religious group having been there, and
so I can only presume that the house was previously inhabited by a member
of the group who has since moved on. I communicated briefly with an Eastern
Lightning representative in the USA via email on several occasions. However,
the correspondent declined to answer my questions about the group, referring
me instead back to the Church’s texts, which she claimed would answer all
my questions. I followed her advice, and found that together with materials
from Chinese Protestant groups and state organs, they do indeed illuminate a
heterodox subculture related to Chinese Protestantism.
Book Structure
Chapter 2 of this book chronicles the development of Protestant-related new

religious movements in the PRC since the early 1980s, when religious expres-
sion was flourishing and reconfiguring after decades of repression. Most of
these groups were offshoots of indigenous and millenarian sects that had
emerged during the republican period (1912–49). To discern their chief char-
acteristics and collective significance for the field of Chinese religion, I here
study nine of the movements that the state has banned.
Chapter 3 expounds Eastern Lightning’s doctrine and eschatology, examin-
ing scriptures, hymns and testimonies, and presents a cogent account of the
group’s beliefs. Teachings that are prominent in scriptures but seldom acknowl-
edged by commentators are unearthed, leading to a critical assessment of
state and Protestant characterizations of the group. Eastern Lightning’s apoc-
alyptic and millenarian vision is explained, and areas of affinity between its
beliefs and those of popular religions are identified. While the idea that “Jesus
is back, and she’s Chinese”87 is novel for a Western audience, it makes sense
in the social and religious setting from which Eastern Lightning draws its
members.
86 Wu Minggao (吴明高), “Xiejiao weifa fanzui huodong de qushi ji chuzhi duice 邪教违
法犯罪活动的趋势及处置对策” [Trends in cults’ criminal activities and measures for
addressing them], 政法学刊 30, no. 2 (2013): 82; Matthew Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s
Chinese,” Time, November 5, 2001.
87 Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s Chinese.”
24 CHAPTER 1
In a case study of the development of Eastern Lightning’s doctrine,

Chapter 4 traces the origins of its teachings concerning a ‘big red dragon’ back
through the history of Christianity in China. While the previous chapter dem-
onstrated its congruence with popular religion, the discussion here shows
that Eastern Lightning is also located firmly within a tradition of heterodox
Protestantism.
Chapter 5 discusses the relationship between Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements and the Chinese state. As with Falun Gong, this has been
one of outright suppression. Specifically, I examine the labeling of Protestant-
related new religious movements as “heterodox doctrines” or “cults” (邪教
xiejiao). This has been bound up with the regulation of Protestantism, and the
campaign against Falun Gong.
Eastern Lightning’s recruitment techniques are the subject of Chapter 6,
which draws on Eastern Lightning sources such as plans for church develop-
ment, a missionary manual and testimonies of conversion. Common prose-
lytizing methods include the distribution of tales of dreams and visions, the
movement of lay evangelists throughout the nation, and the cultivation of
social networks. The group’s detractors tell a different story, however, alleging
that Eastern Lightning routinely uses kidnapping, violence and deception to
lure naive Protestants into its lair. These allegations are narrated and evaluated.
Eastern Lightning and other Protestant-related new religious movements
have been of particular concern to Protestant communities, which decry the
heretical nature of their doctrine and rue their successful attempts to prosely-
tize Christians. Protestant responses to ‘heresy’ over the last three decades are
explored in Chapter 7. While these have been characterized by unanimous and
sustained vilification, they also reflect cleavages in understandings of religious
orthodoxy and heresy.
Chapter 8 concludes the inquiry by considering Eastern Lightning’s relation-
ship to both the local and global religious environments. I also discuss recent
developments in the movement, and what they might mean for its future.
Together, these chapters unveil dynamic, complex and fraught interactions
among an array of political and religious actors, and the historical legacies that
continue to shape them.
CHAPTER 2
Protestant-related New Religious Movements in

Contemporary China
From the late 1970s, religion flourished in China. The Communist Party ended
the extreme suppression of religion that had prevailed during the Cultural
Revolution, publicly acknowledged that religion would persist as a social phe-
nomenon for the foreseeable future, and called for the respect of freedom of
religious belief.1 Enabled by this renewed toleration, each of the ‘five major
religions’ (五大宗教 wu da zongjiao) officially recognized by the state—
namely, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism—reopened
places of worship and religious training and reassembled the ‘patriotic’ reli-
gious associations that had been formed during the early years of the PRC. In
the case of Protestantism, the first TSPM church reopened in April 1979, and a
National Christian Conference was held the following year, in which the China
Christian Council was also formed to coordinate the management and min-
istries of churches.2 Reflecting the growth of Protestantism during this time
(and also during the years of suppression), the number of Protestants in China
had climbed from seven hundred thousand in 1949 to three million in 1982.3
Protestantism was introduced to Henan, the birthplace of Eastern Lightning,
in the late nineteenth century by the missionaries of the China Inland Mission
(内地会 Neidi hui). By the turn of the century, the Mission was reporting a
fine spiritual harvest there and had established eight churches.4 In the early
1 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “Document 19.” Also Article 36,
National People’s Congress, “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China.” Available at
http://www.gov.cn/english/2005-08/05/content_20813.htm. Accessed February 10, 2010.
2 Theoretically, the TSPM is responsible for running churches and theological matters, while
the CCC attends to pastoral needs. In practice, however, the division of responsibilities
between the two Protestant organizations (i.e., TSPM / CCC) is unclear. Both have commit-
tees on national, provincial, and county levels, membership of which frequently overlaps.
3 Carsten T. Vala, “Pathways to the Pulpit: Leadership Training in ‘Patriotic’ and Unregistered
Chinese Protestant Churches,” in Making Religion, Making the State: The Politics of Religion
in Modern China, ed. Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank (Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 2009), 96.
4 Wang Baoquan (王保全), “Henan sheng Jidujiao jianshi 河南省基督教简史” [A brief
history of Protestantism in Henan province]. Available at http://hnjdj.lingd.net/article-
1135028–1.html. Accessed July 1, 2009.

26 CHAPTER 2
twentieth century, an influx of other missions descended upon Henan, such

that by the late 1930s the province boasted sixteen denominations, 314 churches,
394 missionaries, 1106 Chinese clergy and 12,418 Chinese Protestants.5 At the
same time, indigenous and millenarian sects such as the True Jesus Church
also expanded rapidly in the province.6
A TSPM Committee was established in Henan in 1958. In this year the provi-
sion of church services was drastically reduced throughout the nation under the
rubric of ‘combined services’ (联合礼拜 lianhe libai), before they ceased pub-
lic operations entirely during the Cultural Revolution. Since the 1980s Henan
province has been a stronghold of ‘Protestant fever,’ with 800,000 Protestants,
3000 meeting points and 1800 clergy counted there by the TSPM in 1987.7 Today,
sources close to the China Christian Council estimate that several percent of
Henan’s 100 million-strong population have become Protestant believers.8 This
figure is impressive given that such sources do not usually count members of
unofficial churches or believers who have not been baptized.
Alongside the expansion of registered religious organizations, popular and
local religions also experienced a revival in China from the early 1980s. Tens of
thousands of temples were rebuilt and practices such as geomancy, shaman-
ism, fortune-telling, exorcism and faith healing resurfaced, despite still being
branded as ‘superstitious’ (迷信 mixin) and ‘reactionary’ (反动 fandong) by
the state.9 In urban areas, qigong became popular for its body cultivation tech-
niques and supernatural claims.
Unofficial Protestant groups—many of which continued to meet clan-
destinely and even multiplied during the Cultural Revolution—have also
burgeoned since the early 1980s. Most continue to be influenced by the
teachings of Watchman Nee and the indigenous sects that emerged during
5 Ibid.
6 Bays, “Indigenous Protestant Churches in China, 1900–1937,” 136.
7 Wang Baoquan (王保全), “Henan sheng Jidujiao jianshi 河南省基督教简史.”
8 In 2004, the Amity News Service estimated 4.585 million Protestants in Henan. A 2007 esti-
mate revised this down to 2.63 million, but in conversations with me in 2006 several workers
in the national TSPM / CCC organizations cited Henan as one of several provinces with a
Protestant population of over 5 million. See Amity News Service, “Church Statistics” (2004).
Available at http://www.amitynewsservice.org/page.php?page=1230. Accessed April 25 2007;
now defunct; Theresa Carino, “ ‘Coping’ with Rapid Church Growth in Henan,” ANS 4/6, no. 3
(2007).
9 Ann Anagnost, “Politics and Magic in Contemporary China,” Modern China 13, no. 1 (1987).
Also materials reprinted in Donald E. MacInnis, Religion in China Today: Policy and Practice
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989), 387ff.; Robin Munro, “Syncretic Sects and Secret Societies,”
Chinese Sociology and Anthropology 24, no. 1 (1989).
Protestant-related New Religious Movements 27
the republican era.10 Accordingly, the religious revival has been character-
ized by Pentecostalism.11 Charisma such as miracles (chiefly, faith healing),
glossolalia,12 visions and exorcisms are all widely reported, as is a climate of
millenarian expectation. The national magazine of the registered Protestant
bodies, Tian Feng 天风, testified to this in the first years of its resumed pub-
lication: it condemned ‘superstitious activities’ (迷信活动 mixin huodong)
making their way into the church, the emphasis placed on miracles by some
believers, and eschatological speculation surrounding the year 2000.13
A panoply of new religious movements emerged from this context. Who
founded these movements, and where? What did they teach? What were their
distinguishing characteristics? This chapter proceeds to outline nine of the
Protestant-related movements banned as ‘cults’ (邪教 xiejiao) by the Chinese
government—namely, the Shouters, the Established King movement, the Lord
God’s Teachings, the Disciples, the New Testament Church, the Efficacious
Spirit Teachings, the All Sphere Church, the Three Grades of Servants, and
Eastern Lightning.14 Wherever possible, I refer to sources emanating from

11 Alan Hunter and Kim-Kwong Chan, Protestantism in Contemporary China (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993), 134.
12 Glossolalia or “speaking in tongues” (说方言 shuo fangyan, literally “speaking in dialect”)
refers to an ecstatic religious experience in which the worshipper produces vocalizations
that are not recognizable as originating in any specific language. These vocalizations may
then be interpreted by a fellow religious believer as a message containing spiritual insight.
13 See respectively Deng Yueming (邓月明), “Jingti fengjian mixin huodong zuanru jiao-
hui 警惕封建迦信活动钻入教会” [Beware of feudal and superstitious activities mak-
ing their way into the church], TF 11 (1982): 23; Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩). “Shenji qishi bushi
fuyin de zhongxin 神迹奇事不是福音的中心” [Miracles and unusual phenomena are
not the heart of the gospel], TF 4 (1981): 19–20; Wang Shenyin (王神荫), “We Kust (sic) Put
a Stop to Criminal Activities Carried out in the Name of the Church,” Religion in the PRC:
Documentation, no. 12 (1983): 17. Originally published in TF 2 (1983).
14 With the exception of Eastern Lightning, each of these nine movements appeared in a
list of fourteen “evil cults” circulated by the Ministry of Public Security and the General
Offices of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council at the height of the suppres-
sion of Falun Gong in April 2000. (“Notice on Various Issues.”) The four Protestant-related
groups included in the CCP’s list but omitted from discussion here are the Unification
Church, Damin Mission, World Elijah Evangelical Mission, and Children of God. I have
been unable to find reports of any substantial presence within China for these groups;
since they are all foreign-based and regarded as “cults” overseas, they may have been
included in the list of proscribed groups to lend legitimacy to the Chinese government’s
anti-cult measures. The omission of Eastern Lightning from this list is curious; however, it
has been labeled an “evil cult” in numerous other government documents.
28 CHAPTER 2
the movements themselves to support my discussion. This is possible for the

‘Shouters’, the New Testament Church and Eastern Lightning. In the remain-
der of cases, I assembled information from Chinese academic sources, media
reports, court transcripts and internal government documents that have been
leaked to Western human rights organizations.15 As the previous chapter
acknowledged, relying upon these accounts is problematic due to the Chinese
government’s expressed interest in criminalizing and suppressing new reli-
gious movements. I have therefore corroborated them with materials ema-
nating from Hong Kong theological institutions and Chinese house churches,
which are frequently critical of both the TSPM and CCP. I have also chosen to
omit some information that is given only by a single source, and which is either
uncorroborated or contradicted by multiple materials elsewhere.
The following discussion shows that Eastern Lightning fit in well with the
religious climate from which it emerged. The Protestant-related new religious
movements that formed in the 1980s and early 1990s have proclaimed apoca-
lyptic teachings, held out hope of healing miracles or avoiding disaster, and
practiced exorcism. They have developed and maintained transprovincial
organizational networks, dispatched zealous evangelists, and printed tracts.
They have gathered to sing, dance, and pray in an environment of religious
innovation and revival.
‘Shouters’ (呼喊派 Huhan pai, also translated as ‘Yellers’)
The first new religious movement to attract the government’s wrath in the
post-Mao era was the ‘Shouters.’ The movement so named by its detractors
was established by Li Changshou (李常受, known as Witness Lee in English).
In the 1940s, Lee served as one of seven leaders of the Little Flock (小群派
Xiaoqun pai), a large indigenous church founded by Watchman Nee (倪柝
声 Ni Tuosheng) in the 1920s. On the eve of the 1949 revolution Lee fled to
Taiwan, where he continued to develop the group, while Nee was imprisoned.
In 1962 he relocated to the US, where he established the Local Church (地方
教会 Difang jiaohui).16 The Church entered the PRC through Wenzhou in late
1978, armed with its own religious literature and cassette tapes. It grew rapidly,
15 For the latter, see Chinese Law and Government, 36, no. 2 (2003).
16 Jason Kindopp, “The Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China: State Control,
Civil Society and Social Movement in a Single-Party State” (PhD diss., George Washington
University, 2004), 436. Kindopp presents a detailed study of the Local Church on
pp. 429–82.
attracting followers of the Little Flock who rejected the TSPM and were now
bereft of Watchman Nee, their founder who had passed away in the early 1970s.
Thus, by 1983 the ‘Shouters’ boasted an estimated two hundred thousand fol-
lowers in and around their Henan stronghold of Lushan city.17
Between 1974 and 1979, the Local Church’s editorial team produced a trans-
lation of the Bible, which they entitled the “Recovery Version” (恢复版 Huifu
ban).18 It contains lengthy annotations written by Lee that expound his theo-
logical interpretation. In his numerous books, Lee presented his theology as
restoring God’s truth, which had been neglected by modern-day Christianity.
Established Christianity was fettered by institutions and had fallen into error;
the Local Church had been entrusted by God with the mission of revealing the
true nature of the “all-inclusive Christ” and pure Christian worship:
In today’s Christianity we see neither the enjoyment of the all-inclusive

Christ nor the practice of the proper church life. For this reason, during
the past fifty years [author’s note: i.e., since the founding of the Little Flock]
the Lord has come to show us His recovery of the experience of Christ
and of the proper church life . . . The Lord has shown us that Christ is the
all-inclusive, wonderful One. He is all in all. He is God, the Creator, the
Father, the Son, the Spirit, and also the proper man.19
Lee developed the notion of an “All-Inclusive Christ” in the early 1960s, and it
remained central to his theology. It referred to Lee’s belief that Christ is not
just a member of the Trinity, but is himself also God the Father and the Spirit.
Lee also taught that Christ is man; Christ “mingled with man” during his life on
earth and remains human as well as divine in nature even now; hence, both the
Creator and the creature can be found in him.20 To elucidate this concept, he
reflected in relation to Jesus Christ:
17 Human Rights Watch / Asia, “China: Persecution of a Protestant Sect,” Human Rights
Watch / Asia (report) 6, no. 6 (1994): 3.
18 The Recovery Version can be viewed online at www.recoveryversion.org.
19 Witness Lee, “Contending for the Faith: The Truth Concerning the Trinity.” Available
at http://www.ministrybooks.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=1DD0CBD3CE. Accessed
September 30, 2014. First published 1976–1977.
20 Witness Lee, “The All-Inclusive Spirit of Christ.” Available at http://www.ministrybooks
.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=1DDAC9DCCB. Accessed August 20, 2013. First pub-
lished 1962.
30 CHAPTER 2
Within this life we have God the Son, the Father, the Spirit, and man. Take
a cup of plain water and mix it with tea. Now the water is more than just
water. Originally it was water, but now it is water mingled with tea. Before
Christ was incarnated, He was God alone, but after His incarnation He is
God mingled with man. In Him is not only the divine nature, but also the
human nature, the human essence, the human element. He is God, He is
the Father, He is the Son, He is the Spirit, and He is man.21
It is not these aspects of Lee’s teachings that are most commonly criticized by
Chinese political and religious figures. The most distinctive and controversial
aspects of Lee’s doctrine are those that concern religious rituals. In order to
lead a full spiritual life, or “fully enjoy the riches of the Lord,” Lee instructed
believers to imbibe the essence of Christ, or “eat the Lord.” Pointing to bibli-
cal references to eating and drinking from the time of Adam in the Garden
of Eden, Lee taught that “the Bible is a book on eating [God],” and that Jesus
came “for us to eat Him.” While Holy Communion is a physical representation
of eating Christ, the eating of which Lee taught is a spiritual one: “The Lord is
Spirit, so we must use our spirit to eat Him.”22
In practice, believers can “eat the Lord” or absorb his essence by “calling
on his name.”23 According to Lee, we should call on the Lord as individuals
“daily and hourly,” and also “corporately.”24 Calling upon the Lord audibly will
invoke his presence with the believer and/or congregation, just as when one
calls out a human being’s name, he or she will come. Although Christians who
pray quietly will receive eternal life, Lee wrote, “calling loudly helps people
to be saved in a richer and more thorough way . . . The more you shout, ‘O
Lord Jesus, You are so good to me!’ the more you will be released from your
self and filled with the Lord.”25 This practice has earned ‘the Shouters’ their
21 Ibid.
22 Witness Lee, “Eating the Lord.” Available at http://www.ministrybooks.org/
SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=1DDACBD8C5. Accessed September 30, 2014. This sermon
was first given in September 1979.
23 Witness Lee, “Calling on the Name of the Lord.” Available at http://www.ministrybooks
.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=1EDAC7DCCD. Accessed September 30, 2014.
24 Witness Lee, “Pray-Reading the Word.” Available at http://www.ministrybooks.org/
SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=13DCCFD2CD. Accessed September 30, 2014.
25 Witness Lee, “Calling on the Name of the Lord.”
appellation.26 Although the Local Church in the USA discontinued this prac-
tice in the 1980s,27 it has continued in China.
The ‘Shouters’ attracted the attention of Chinese state organs and Protestant
communities soon after their arrival in the PRC. In 1979, they organized protests
against the government in Neixiang County in Henan province.28 In February
1982, they were denounced by the TSPM after they stormed into churches
and yelled insults against the TSPM during prayer time in TSPM churches in
Dongyang and Yiwu counties in Zhejiang province. Two hundred members
were reported by TSPM sources to have physically assaulted churchgoers and
Public Security personnel who had been called to the scene.29 In 1983, the
‘Shouters’ became the first religious group in the post-Mao era to be labeled a
‘cult’ and banned by the State Council.30 By that year, it had spread to twenty
provinces and autonomous regions, and boasted an estimated two hundred
thousand followers.31 The banning resulted in some two thousand arrests32
and a nation-wide crackdown on unregistered Protestant congregations.
Despite the State Council’s condemnation of the ‘Shouters,’ some Local
Church congregations have succeeded in registering with SARA while main-
taining independence from the TSPM. In one case uncovered by Jason Kindopp,
registration was granted because officials were encouraged by the fact that the
Local Church had refrained from participating in the 1989 political demon-
strations, and appeared to be independent from foreign control.33 Reflecting
the diversity within the Local Church, many Christians within China draw a
distinction between the Local Church and the ‘Shouters’ (identified with the
26 The practice of “shouting” may be a continuation of Protestant expressions that were
popular during the republican era. See Human Rights Watch / Asia, “China: Persecution
of a Protestant Sect,” 2; Hunter and Chan, Protestantism in Contemporary China, 132.
27 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 467n627.
28 Neixiang County Local Gazetteer Editorial Committee (內乡县地方史志编纂委员会),
ed., Neixiang xian zhi 內乡县志 [Neixiang County Gazetteer] (北京: 三联书店, 1994),
728. This gazetteer does not give any reason for the Shouters’ discontent.
29 “More on the Dongyang and Yiwu Incidents,” China Study Project Bulletin, no. 21 (1983):
29–31; Deng Fucun, “The Truth About the So-Called Dongyang & Yiwu Affair,” Religion in
the PRC: Documentation 12 (1983): 20–21.
30 In Zhejiang, the suppression of the Shouters was ordered by the Dongyang People’s
Government on July 3, 1983. Editorial Committee of the Dongyang Municipal Gazetteer
(东阳市地方志编委会), ed., Dongyang shi zhi 东阳市志, [Dongyang Municipal
Gazetteer] (上海: 汉语大词典出版社, 1993), 727.
31 “Notice on Various Issues,” 26.
32 Human Rights Watch / Asia, “China: Persecution of a Protestant Sect,” 5.
33 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 466–70.
32 CHAPTER 2
earlier and later stages of Lee’s teachings respectively), viewing the former
as orthodox and the latter as heretical due to its emphasis on ‘shouting.’34
Overseas, the Local Church is sensitive to any suggestion that it is ‘heretical’
and has sued editors of an encyclopedia for listing it as such.35
Witness Lee passed away in 1997, but his death did not curb Local Church
activities in the PRC, where in 2004 it had an estimated eight hundred thou-
sand adherents.36 The ‘Shouters’’ influence was further evident as some of its
members split off from the group to form their own religious movements; the
Established King, the Lord God’s Teachings, and Eastern Lightning were all
founded by former Shouters. Their fiery apocalypticism, ecstatic millenarian-
ism, hostility towards the state and the conventional church, and vibrant wor-
ship, all provided a template for future movements to refer to.
Established King (被立王 Beili wang)
One such offshoot was the Established King group, which was formed by Wu
Yangming (吴杨明) in 1988 and centered in Fuyang in Anhui province and
Xuzhou in Jiangsu province. Born in 1945, Wu was a peasant from Yingshang
County in Anhui province with a junior high school education.37 He converted
to Protestantism in 1979,38 joined the Shouters in 1983, and came to lead a con-
gregation.39 In 1983 he was arrested during the crackdown on the Shouters in
Anhui province, and in 1986 he was interrogated and “re-educated.”40 This was
34 Interviews with house church leader and Christians, May 2006.
35 Mark A. Kellner, “Local Church Fights for Evangelical I.D. Card: Witness Lee Group Local
Church Sues for $136 Million Over Harvest House Cults Article,” Christianity Today 47,
no. 2 (2003).
36 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 430, 437.
37 Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 案” [The case
of the ‘Established King’ cultic organization], 人民公安 Z1 (1999). Luo Weihong cites a
different birthplace for Wu (though also in Anhui), and states that he had only a primary
school education. Luo Weihong, “The Facts about the Activities of the Heterodox Sect
‘The Established King,’ ” CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 17–21. Originally published in 当代宗教研究
(Research on contemporary religion) 1 (1998).
38 Shang Zhong (尚钟), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ bei yifa qudi 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 被依法
取缔” [“Established King” cultic organization suppressed in accordance with the law], 中
国宗教 2 (1995). Originally published in TF 6 (1995).
39 Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 案.”
40 Shang Zhong (尚钟), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ bei yifa qudi 邪教组织’ 被立王’ 被依法
取缔.”
evidently ineffective, for the following year Wu was sentenced to one year’s
imprisonment for “using a cult to engage in illegal activities” on the basis of
having established seven Shouters congregations with a total of approximately
one thousand people.41
Wu reportedly founded the Established King religion after being released
from prison in September 1988, claiming to have received special revelation
from God. The name of the group, which is also the title Wu gave himself,
invokes a word in the Gospel of Luke. Having received revelation from the Holy
Spirit, a man called Simeon prophesied over the infant Jesus that “This child
is destined (被立 beili) to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and
to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts
will be revealed.”42 In adopting this appellation, Wu positioned himself as the
returned Christ, holding immense numinous power, and also, importantly,
a potent political force destined to “cause the falling and rising” of earthly
powers.
In 1989, Wu was sentenced to three years of re-education through labor
in connection with his religious activities, but he escaped from custody dur-
ing home leave at the end of 1990.43 In April 1992, Wu was listed as ‘wanted’
by Public Security organs in six provinces, and some seventy meeting points
and fifty-eight leaders of the group were uncovered.44 It was not until January
1995, however, that Wu and five other leaders were arrested by Public Security
agents in Bengbu city, Anhui. The following month, the Shanghai Municipal
Public Security Department detained several more leaders and subpoenaed
and “re-educated” over twenty other members. Authorities believed that at
this time, the Established King had five hundred meeting points and tens of
thousands of believers spread throughout China.45
The group was identified as a “cultic organization” by the Ministry of Public
Security in August 1995.46 In September that year, Wu was sentenced to death
after being convicted on charges of rape, and he was executed three months
41 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66.

42 Luke 2:34–35. Strictly speaking, the name of the movement would therefore be better
translated as “Predestined King.” For the sake of consistency, I nevertheless follow earlier
renderings here.
43 Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 案.”
44 Leung Ka-lun (梁家麟), “Suben qingyuan 溯本清源,” 34.
45 Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织’ 被立王’ 案.”
34 CHAPTER 2
later.47 The group subsequently lost momentum, with many of its members
transferring their affiliation to the Lord God’s Teachings.
The Lord God’s Teachings (主神教 Zhu shen jiao)
Liu Jiaguo 刘家国, founder of the Lord God’s Teachings, was born in 1964.
A peasant from Huoqiu County in Anhui Province with a primary school edu-
cation, he, like Wu Yangming, was once a member of the Shouters. Liu later
joined the Established King movement, and in 1991 was sent to Hunan for the
purpose of proselytizing, where he converted a few dozen people.48 Liu left
the Established King movement to establish the Lord God’s Teachings in
Hunan in late 1992. Other than claiming to be the returned Christ, few details
of his teachings are known.
Following the suppression of the Established King group and the execu-
tion of Wu Yangming in late 1995, the Lord God’s Teachings attracted many
of its former members—presumably Liu was able to attract Wu’s followers
by virtue of his previous position of leadership in Wu’s group.49 One account
estimates that Liu had ten thousand followers at the group’s peak in 1997.50
In that year, the movement held a national meeting in Hunan—where it was
based—and established a hierarchy that included the ranks of ‘God the Lord’
(主神 zhushen), ‘Lord on high’ (在上主 zai shang zhu), ‘Elders’ (长老 zhanglao),
47 For a very detailed account of the rapes and subsequent proceedings against Wu
Yangming, see Ai Qun (艾群) and Wu Xiaolong (吴小龙), “Zhenbu xiejiao ‘beiliwang’
侦捕邪教’ 被立王’ ” [The investigation and suppression of the “Established King” cult],
南风窗 4 (1997). Also “The Heretical ‘Established King Cult’ is Brought to Trial,” CSJ 10,
no. 2 (1995): 59–61.
48 Jiang An (江岸) and Zhang Shiping (张世平), “ ‘Zhushen jiao’ fumie ji‘主神教’覆灭
记” [A record of the destruction of the “Lord God’s Teachings”], 中国宗教 1 (1999); Wu
Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 68. Faison gives later dates for these
activities in Seth Faison, “Strategy for a Charlatan in China: Claim Deity, Then Steal and
Seduce,” NYT, September 18, 1999.
49 A court document simply states that Liu “inherited the mantle” of Wu Yangming. Hunan
Supreme Court (湖南省高级人民法院), “Liu Jiaguo、Zhu Aiqing zuzhi, liyong xiejiao
zuzhi pohuai falü shishi, qiangjian, zhapian an (xingshi panjue shu) 刘家国、朱爱
清组织、利用邪教组织破坏法律实施、强奸、诈骗案 (刑事判决书)” [Verdict
on Liu Jiaguo and Zhu Aiqing organizing and using a cultic organization to obstruct
the law, rape and defraud]. Available at http://www.lawyee.net/Case/Case_Display
.asp?RID=16609&KeyWord=°ô°°ÅÉ. Accessed April 21, 2009.
50 Faison, “Strategy for a Charlatan in China,” NYT, September 18, 1999.
‘Four living creatures’ (四活物 si huo wu),51 ‘Seven angels’ (七天使 qi tianshi),
‘Provincial authority’ (省权柄 sheng quanbing), ‘County authority’ (县权柄
xian quanbing), and ‘Co-workers’ (同工 tonggong).52 Zhu Aiqing 朱爱清, a
middle-aged peasant from Xiangxiang city in Hunan Province, was appointed
as the ‘Lord on high.’
The Lord God’s Teachings was identified as a ‘cult’ by the General Offices of
the CCP Central Committee and the State Council in April 1998.53 Two months
later the Hunan Public Security Bureau arrested approximately twenty of its
leaders.54 Liu was executed in October 1999, having been convicted by a Hunan
court of rape, fraud, and organizing and using a cultic organization to obstruct
the law. At this time, Zhu Aiqing was also sentenced to seventeen years impris-
onment and fined ten thousand yuan.55 As with the Established King group,
the arrest of the leader precipitated the group’s decline. Nevertheless, both
religions are reported to remain active.56
The Association of Disciples (门徒会 Mentu hui)
In contrast to the trajectory of the Established King and Lord God’s Teachings,
the Disciples has grown in recent years. This movement was founded in
51 In the visions recorded in Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4:6–8, “four living creatures” represent
creation and worship God. Eastern Lightning elsewhere draws on elements of Revelation
4, such as lightning and seven spirits.
52 “Notice on Various Issues,” 31; China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo
yiduan 防备辩驳异端 [Guard against and refute heresy] (China Gospel Fellowship,
ca. 2002–2004, 201 pp.), 110. Leung gives a different hierarchy, perhaps reflecting regional
variations within the organization. Leung Ka-lun (梁家麟), “Suben qingyuan 溯本清源,”
34. The term “coworkers” (同工 tonggong) is widely used by Protestants to refer to fellow
believers who are involved in religious work such as proselytizing, often in a volunteer
capacity.
54 Jiang An (江岸) and Zhang Shiping (张世平), “ ‘Zhushen jiao’ fumie ji‘主神教’覆灭
记”; Faison, “Strategy for a Charlatan in China,” NYT, September 18, 1999.
55 Hunan Supreme Court (湖南省高级人民法院), “Liu Jiaguo, Zhu Aiqing (xingshi panjue
shu) 刘家国、朱爱清 (刑事判决书).”
56 Xi Wuyi (习五一), “Yingdang guanzhu xinxing mobai tuanti de pohuaixing yinsu 应当关
注新兴膜拜团体的破坏性因素” [We should pay attention to the destructive elements
of newly arisen worship groups], 科学与无神论 1 (2010): 52; CCC/TSPM, “Anhui sheng
Jidujiao diwuci daibiao huiyi zai Hefei longzhong zhaokai 安徽省基督教第五次代表
会议在合肥隆重召开” [Fifth Anhui Christian Congress convened in Hefei]. Available at
http://www.ccctspm.org/news/lo_ex/2013/520/13520188.html. Accessed August 23, 2013.
36 CHAPTER 2
Xunyang County in Shaanxi Province by Ji Sanbao 季三保, who is said to have

been born on Christmas Day in 1940. Accounts of the Disciples’ development
give conflicting details, but all begin in 1976, when Ji converted to Christianity
following the death of two of his young children. He joined the True Jesus
Church and established a congregation in his family home. He soon proved
to be a gifted evangelist, and roamed the countryside preaching for much of
the early 1980s. Abundant acts of healing and exorcism attested to his spiritual
efficacy and ensured his popularity.57
Alongside these miracles, Ji’s connection with alimentary sustenance is
prominent in the teachings of the Disciples. One day, while Ji was praying, he
reputedly
suddenly saw a pillar of light streaming into his [wooden chest for grain
storage]. Through this light, grain flowed like water into the chest. Seeing
that it had filled and was about to overflow, [Ji] cried out “Enough!
Enough!” The shaft of light instantly disappeared, and the chest was left
full of grain . . . From this time on, he lived on this grain. He didn’t finish it
until the following year, when his stores were replenished.58
Ji’s mastery over food was again demonstrated when he reportedly fasted and
prayed for 32 consecutive days in 1988. This was to be a significant event in the
history of the group: it was subsequently cited as proof of his superior spiri-
tual status. An excerpt of the movement’s materials eulogizes Ji thus: “He once
fasted for 32 days, praying all night long. God taught him about the mysteries
and reasoning of his Kingdom one by one, enabling him to understand all that
is to come. His spirit travelled; he saw heaven and hell.”59 Most accounts of the
group state that it was only after this that Ji formally established the Disciples.
During the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in
57 Tan Songlin (谭松林) and Peng Bangfu (彭邦富), eds., Zhongguo mimi shehui 中国秘密
社会 [Chinese secret societies], vol. 7: 当代会道门，当代黑社会组织 (福州: 福建人
民出版社, 2002), 121.
58 Ibid. In rendering this translation I consulted Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 223.
59 Excerpt given in Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 32. See also
“Notice on Various Issues,” 27. Ji later claimed that followers had created and propa-
gated this myth without his input. Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会),
“Jiechuan pianju, kuangzheng quxie: fangfan he diyu mentuhui feifa zuzhi 揭穿骗局，
匡正祛邪 : 防范和抵御门徒会非法组织” [Expose fraud, drive out evil: Resist “The
Disciples’ ” illegal organization]. Available in 2007 at http://www.cnfxj.org/Html/spzt/
2007-5/31/140214640.html; now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHpaoeMIsHQ.
Accessed September 23, 2014.
1989, he held a meeting of followers and declared himself to be a prophet and

“God’s stand-in” (神的替身 shen de tishen).60
The name of the sect originates from its early commissioning of twelve
‘disciples’ (门徒 mentu). It is also known as Narrow Gate in the Wilderness
(旷野窄门 kuangye zhaimen) in some regions because adherents profess to
have entered the ‘narrow gate’ of Matthew 7:13–14 (“Enter through the narrow
gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and
many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to
life, and only a few find it.”)61 The inclusion of ‘wilderness’ in the name addi-
tionally reflects the practice of meeting in remote areas, necessitated by the
politically sensitive nature of the religious gatherings. In other regions of China,
the group is also referred to as One Hundred Grams of Food (Sect) (二两粮
er liang liang) because it teaches that adherents can live well on this amount
of food ingested each day—a practice that has attracted no small amount of
opprobrium.62 Yet another appellation for the group is Teachings of the Third
Redemption (三赎教 sanshu jiao), because it presents Noah’s Ark and Jesus’
death and resurrection as having achieved the first two redemptions.63
The Disciples implement a ‘7–7 organizational system’ (七七制 qiqizhi),
meaning that it has seven tiers of organization, each of which supervises
seven subordinate groups. The tiers are titled General Assembly (总会 zon-
ghui), Major Assembly (大会 dahui), Branch (分会 fenhui), Minor Assembly
(小会 xiaohui), Minor Branch (小分会 xiao fenhui), Church (教会 jiaohui),
and Meeting Points (教会点 juhuidian), with just three to six people to a
Meeting Point.64 Each level has positions such as Head Deacon (主执 zhuzhi),
60 Xi Wuyi (习五一), “Yingdang guanzhu xinxing mobai tuanti de pohuaixing yinsu 应
当关注新兴膜拜团体的破坏性因素,” 52–53; Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 223–24; Ma
Yonghong (马永红), “Guanyu ‘mentuhui’ de xiangguan qingkuang 关于邪教 ‘门徒
会’ 的相关情况” [The circumstances surrounding the “Disciples”]. Available at http://
www.cnfxj.org/Html/xiejiaocn/2007-6/13/130155807.html. Accessed July 9, 2010.
61 “Mentuhui 门徒会” [The Association of Disciples], 河南公安高等专科学校学报 6
(consec. 25) (1995).
62 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan “mentuhui” de neimu” 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside
the heretical “Disciples”], TF 1 (2008): 31. “Jing Xing,” meaning “on guard,” is probably a
pseudonym.
63 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 223.
64 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan “mentuhui” de neimu” 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside the
heretical “Disciples”], TF, no. 1 (2008): 29; Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教
的秘密, 104–5.
38 CHAPTER 2
Associate Deacon (配执 peizhi), Charity Officer (慈事 cishi), Deacon (执事
zhishi) and Preacher (传道员 chuan dao yuan).65
The Hubei Provincial Government proclaimed the Disciples to be an illegal
organization and ordered its suppression as early as 1990.66 It is unclear
whether this was before or after March of that year, when the group incited
some three thousand members to encircle government buildings in Yunyang
county, where they assaulted public security officers and local cadres and
seized firearms.67 The Disciples have also instigated a large number of religious
protests in Shaanxi province over recent decades.68 By the time the Chinese
Central Government proscribed it in 1995, the organization was believed to
have spread to over three hundred counties across fourteen provinces, with
followers totaling approximately 350,000.69
In 2007, a film made by the Chinese Anti-Cult Association reported that Ji
Sanbao died in December 1997 after his car crashed into a road barrier. It also
stated that one Yu Shiqiang 蔚世强 replaced Ji, but died of liver cancer in May
2001; the most recent leader was said to be surnamed Chen, and to be serving a
thirteen-year sentence.70 A sequel made in June 2009 claimed that all three of
the movement’s top leaders—Chen Shirong 陈世荣, Zhang Buxiong 张步雄
and Liu Zhiping 刘治平—had been arrested and sentenced.71 However, as it
began with a larger base of followers than the Established King and Lord God
movements, it can be supposed that the Disciples will continue to operate for
65 “Mentuhui.” Leung gives a different hierarchy, suggesting regional variation: Leung Ka-lun
(梁家麟), “Suben qingyuan 溯本清源,” 36.
66 Xu Dike (许弟科), Zhang Shitong (张世桐), and Huang Jinsong (黄劲松), “Songzi shi
‘kuangye zhaimen’ huodong de diaocha 松滋市’旷野窄门’活动的调查报告”
[Investigative report on the activities of the “Narrow Gate in the Wilderness” in Songzi
municipality], 湖北公安高等专科学校学报 2 (1998): 37.
67 Tan Songlin (谭松林) and Peng Bangfu (彭邦富), eds., Zhongguo mimi shehui 中国秘密
社会, 134.
68 Chung, Lai, and Xia, “Mounting Challenges to Governance in China,” 22. Chung et al. do
not reveal the motivations behind these protests, though we can speculate that possi-
bilities would include the treatment of fellow members, and the complaints which have
fueled other rural protests (such as corruption and living standards).
70 Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Jiechuan pianju, kuangzheng quxie
揭穿骗局，匡正祛邪.”
71 Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Zai jie mentuhui de pianju 再揭
门徒会的骗局.” [Exposing the “Disciples’ ” fraud again] (made June 2009). Available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze89dRUEqtc. Accessed August 13, 2013.
some time. Indeed, a survey conducted in Yunnan over 2009–2010 found that
the Disciples were active in 54 of 128 counties in that province.72
New Testament Church (新约教会 Xin yue jiaohui)
Far less popular than the Disciples but nevertheless classed as an ‘evil cult’ is
the New Testament Church, which was founded in Hong Kong in 1963 by a film
actress named Jiang Duanyi (江端仪 Kong Duen-Yee, also known as Mei Qi).
Jiang taught that Christians must accept the ‘full gospel’ (全备福音 quanbei
fuyin) of blood, water and spirit. In the Church’s theology, blood represents
Jesus’ atoning death on the cross, water represents baptism, and spirit repre-
sents the manifestation of ‘spiritual gifts’—principally, glossolalia. While this
message is consistent with that of many Pentecostal churches throughout the
world, Jiang manifested sectarian tendencies—that is, she insisted that her
church alone was the full truth, and that it was the continuation and restora-
tion of the early church.
New Testament Churches in Malaysia and Singapore sprang up following
Jiang’s visits there in the early 1960s, and by the mid-1990s the Church was “one
of the largest independent charismatic churches in Singapore.”73 After Jiang’s
death in 1966, her daughter Ruth Chang (张路得 Zhang Lude) assumed lead-
ership of the church and established the organization in Taiwan, but she later
left the group for theological reasons. A new church leader popularly called
Elijah Hong (洪以利亚 Hong Yiliya; also known as 洪三期 Hong Sanqi) estab-
lished a new headquarters for the Church on a hill near Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He
named it Mount Zion (锡安山 Xi’an shan), invoking Isaiah 2:2–3, which reads:
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all
nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He
72 Personal communication with Kim-Kwong Chan, then Executive Secretary of the Hong
Kong Christian Council, August 17, 2010. Christianity was found in 74 of the 128 counties.
73 Tan Jin Huat, “Pentecostalisms and Charismatics in Malaysia and Singapore,” in Asian and
Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia, ed. Allan Anderson and Edmond
Tang (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2005), 305n20, 287.
40 CHAPTER 2
will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go
out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.74
Thus, as Paul Farrelly has detailed, Mount Zion is more than a headquarters,
and has sacred significance for the Church. Following Revelation, adherents
expect that Mount Zion will be the site of Jesus’ return to earth, and that they
will be ‘raptured’ up to heaven from there.75 The Church sees signs of the ‘last
days’ that are to precede this in contemporary phenomena such as natural
disasters, crime, AIDS and the specter of a nuclear holocaust. In church pam-
phlets, these conjunctures are interpreted as the tribulations prophesied in
the Book of Revelation, and accordingly as signaling that judgment is about to
fall upon Babylon—the human kingdom.76 People should repent from being
“unfilial”, and from loving “worldly pleasures” such as “smoking, alcohol and
gambling, watching movies, dancing, reading obscene publications and lis-
tening to indecent music.”77 Alongside this conservative Christian morality,
the physical construction of New Testament Churches observes traditional
Chinese geomantic principles.78
Church pamphlets represent both founder Jiang Duanyi and Hong as ful-
filling the prophecy of Isaiah 41:2 that God will “stir up one from the east”
(Figure 1).79 As I discuss in the next chapter of this book, many new religious
movements in East Asia find significance in Bible references to the ‘east.’ Thus,
the New Testament Church proclaims:
74 These Bible verses featured on Mount Zion’s English homepage at http://home.zion
.org.tw/zion/english/index.htm. Accessed November 4, 2008. In the book of Revelation,
Mount Zion is part of the new heaven and new earth that is to appear after Armageddon.
75 Paul J. Farrelly, “The New Testament Church and Mount Zion in Taiwan,” in Flows of Faith:
Religious Reach and Community in Asia and the Pacific, ed. Lenore Manderson, Wendy
Smith, and Matt Tomlinson (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2012), 183.
76 Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “Da zainan linjin le! 大災難臨
近了！” [The Great Tribulation is at Hand!]. Available at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/
chinese/pdf/poster/TheGreatTribulationIsAtHand.pdf. Accessed August 21, 2013.
77 Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “The Great Tribulation Is at Hand!,”
Available at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/english/. Accessed August 21, 2013.
78 Farrelly, “New Testament Church and Mount Zion in Taiwan,” 194–96.
79 Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “Xianzhi zai dongfang! Shengshan
zai Taiwan! 先知在东方！圣山在台湾！” [The Prophet in the East! Holy Mount
in Taiwan!]. Available at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/chinese/pdf/poster/
God’sChosenProphetInTheEast.pdf. Accessed August 21, 2013. Isaiah 41:2 reads, “Who has
stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations
over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to wind-
blown chaff with his bow.”
figure 1 “Behold! God’s Chosen Prophet in the East!” New Testament Church pamphlet,
c. 2000.
Today, all nations and people must know that the Holy Land consecrated
by God is no longer Jerusalem in the Middle East; it is Mount Zion in
Taiwan, an isle in the East. This mountain is God’s chosen holy mount in
these last days!80
In 1980, the Nationalist party (Kuomintang), which ruled the then one-party
state of Taiwan, evicted the church denizens from the mountain, and a seven-
year protest ensued during which the Church staged public demonstra-
tions in Taipei.81 In the words of the New Testament Church’s website, “the
Holy Spirit led the New Testament Church to the streets to expose the evil of
the Chiang dynasty and vanquish the atrocities of the KMT with huge ban-
ners, thus accomplishing the mission to ‘execute justice, vanquish tyrannies,
and rescue mankind.’ ”82 In 1986, the church was permitted to return to the
80 Ibid., Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “Behold! God’s Chosen Prophet
in the East! Holy Mount in Taiwan!” Available at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/english/.
Accessed August 21, 2013.
81 Photos of members protesting outside the Presidential Building in Taipei during this
period can be found on the Church’s Chinese website at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/
chinese/zion/zion_02.html. Accessed February 4, 2009.
82 “We Vowed to Return to Zion Even to the Point of Death.” Available at http://home.zion
.org.tw/zion/english/index.htm. Accessed February 3, 2009. The “Chiang dynasty” refers
to Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國, President of Taiwan 1978–1988) and his father Chiang
42 CHAPTER 2
mountain. It now attracts visitors, who are encouraged to learn about the
religion while enjoying the organic vegetable gardens, grandiose sculptures,
cafeteria, church building, and visitors’ centre. Pilgrimages that occur during
holidays such as Chinese New Year are interpreted as fulfilling Isaiah’s proph-
ecy of nations returning to Zion.83
Despite having been declared by the General Offices of the CCP Central
Committee and State Council to be a “cultic organization,”84 the Church has
an insignificant presence in mainland China; there are few reports of its activi-
ties from either Protestant or state sources. Three members were sentenced
to seven years’ imprisonment in Xiamen—a coastal city in Fujian province,
directly across the strait from Taiwan—in February 2001; they had joined the
group in May 1998, recruited 40 members, and established a Xiamen Chapter
of the Church.85 Public Security organs in Beihai, Guangxi also cracked down
on the New Testament Church in 2001.86
In 1988, a former leader of the New Testament Church’s branch in Shipai,
Taipei established ‘The Blood and Water of Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit Full
Gospel Evangelistic Band’ (血水圣灵全备福音布道团 Xueshui shengling
quanbei fuyin budaotuan; also known as ‘The Church Rebuilt by the Holy Spirit’
(圣灵重建教会 Shengling chongjian jiaohui). Zuo Kun 左坤 proclaims him-
self to be God’s end-times Prophet, adopting the biblical name of Moses. Like
the New Testament Church and the Shouters, the Church claims to be the res-
toration and purification of the true church:
Kai-Shek (蔣介石, Chairman of the Chinese Nationalist government and President of

Taiwan until 1975).
83 Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “All Nations Flow to Mount Zion
to Entreat God’s Grace from the Prophet.” Available at http://home.zion.org.tw/zion/
english/index.htm. Accessed February 3, 2009.
85 Luo Tianxing (罗天兴) and Wang Xu (王旭), “Xiamen panjue zuzhi he liyong xiejiao zuzhi
pohuai falu shishi an 厦门判决组织和利用邪教组织破坏法律实施案” [Convictions
for organizing and using a cultic organization to obstruct the law in Xiamen]. Available
at http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/44/20020205/663083.html. Accessed March 8,
2004.
86 “Guangxi beihai dahei chu’e chengji zhuozhu: qunian po’an 2884 jian 广西北海打黑除
恶成绩卓著去年破案 2884 件” [Outstanding results in crackdown on sinister activi-
ties in Beihai, Guangxi: 2884 cases solved last year]. Available at http://news.sina.com
.cn/c/2002–02–06/468607.html. Accessed August 13, 2013.
The Rebuilt Church by the Holy Spirit is the church which is reverted
[sic] to the church Peter, the apostle, built up when the Holy Spirit came
down at Pentecost in the Jerusalem . . . In the last days, it is just the vision,
entrustment and commission of the Rebuilt Church by the Holy Spirit
[sic].87
Zuo led an evangelistic mission into mainland China in 1989.88 By 1999, the
Church had just three churches in Taiwan, but claimed to have 2500 churches
on the mainland.89 Chinese government reports state that the organization has
spread to over 20 provinces, autonomous regions and special municipalities;90
public security forces in Anhui province cracked down on the group and
arrested key leader Wan Renhong around the year 2000.91 Overall, however,
there are few reports of the Church’s activities, suggesting that the gov-
ernment’s reports are inflated. In the absence of a large following, the New
Testament Church and its offshoot were likely included in the blacklist to lend
weight to the depiction of ‘cults’ as having dubious connections with religious
organizations beyond the PRC mainland that seek to ‘infiltrate’ China.92
Efficacious Spirit Teachings (灵灵教 Lingling jiao)
The Efficacious Spirit group has no such connections. It was formed in the mid-
1980s in Hunan province by a man called Hua Xuehe, who was from Jiangsu.
Hua was a primary school teacher with a high school education. He joined
the CCP during the Cultural Revolution, but became a Protestant in 1978 and
joined the True Jesus Church in 1979.93 In 1982, authorities cracked down on
the True Jesus Church congregations that he had established, and Hua was
87 Moses Tsuo, “The Ministry of the Apostle: Preface to the 2nd Edition.” Available at http://
www.church.org.tw/english/books/03.html. Accessed March 9, 2004 (now defunct). The
Ministry of the Apostle (使徒職分 Shitu zhifen) is the group’s most important text, but
adherents also read the Bible.
88 “A Miracle to Bind the Ancient Dragon.” Available at http://web.archive.org/web/2001
0803231531/www.church.org.tw/english/index.html. Accessed October 10, 2006.
89 Tsuo, “Ministry of the Apostle: Preface to the 2nd Edition.”
91 “The Bulletin of the Department of Anhui Public Security,” Chinese Law and Government
36, no. 2 (2003 [2001]): 43.
92 For example, ibid., 48.
93 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端, 105;
Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 65.
44 CHAPTER 2
expelled from the Church for unspecified reasons. He then began to preach
independently.94
The Efficacious Spirit movement has not developed its own texts. Converts
are taught that Christ could not save Himself on the cross, and so they should
not pray in his name but in that of the ‘New Lord’—that is, Hua.95 Accordingly,
members celebrate Hua’s birthday on January 17 instead of Christmas.96 Hua’s
claim to be the second incarnation of Christ is apparently bolstered by the
fact that his name (华雪和 Hua Xuehe) differs by just one syllable from the
Mandarin word for Jehovah (耶和华 Yehehua). The difference is reportedly
attributed to the fact that Hua was born on a snowy (雪 xue) day, and Jesus was
born in winter.97
Hua was arrested in 1990, at which time government sources state the move-
ment had been propagated in a dozen provinces and attracted fifteen thousand
followers.98 These same sources report that seven hundred followers staged a
protest after Hua was sent to a labor camp.99 He has reportedly since been
released,100 but his whereabouts and fate are unknown.
All Sphere Church (全范围教会 Quan fanwei jiaohui)

(also known as the Born Again sect [重生派 Chongsheng pai] and the
Weepers [哭派 Ku pai])
While Chinese Protestants generally support the state’s listing of the aforemen-
tioned groups as ‘evil cults,’ the case of the Born Again sect is more c ontroversial.
94 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66.

95 Tony Lambert, “Modern Sects and Cults in China,” CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 7.
96 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66; China Gospel Fellowship (中
华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端, 105.
97 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), “Touxi lingling jiao 透析灵灵教” [An analysis of the
Efficacious Spirit sect] in 论邪教：首届邪教问题国际研讨会论文集, ed. Shehui
wenti yanjiu congshu bianji weiyuanhui (社会问题研究丛书编辑委员会) (南宁: 广
西人民出版社, 2001), 266. See also Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, “Christianity in Contemporary
China: An Update,” Journal of Church and State 49, no. 2 (2007): 297. Hong Xiuquan, leader
of the Taiping rebellion, similarly found significance in biblical use of Chinese characters
that were (albeit tenuously) related to his name, such as the “rainbow” (虹 hong) which
appeared to Noah after the flood. Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History and
Documents, vol. 2 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971), 225.
99 Ibid., 29.
100 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端, 106.
The sect was founded in 1984 in Pingdingshan City in Henan province by Xu

Yongze (徐永泽; English name Peter Xu), a native of Zhenping county in the
same province.101 Xu came from a Christian family and e xperienced a vision of
God and a call to preach while still a young child.102 State and some Protestant
(chiefly, TSPM) sources condemn the group for its emphasis on crying as a
sign of authentic repentance and spiritual rebirth, and ecstatic evangelistic
meetings (called ‘Life Meetings’, or 生命会 shengming hui, which generally
last for three days).
Other Protestants dispute this depiction of the group. They understand it
to be Pentecostal but broadly within Christian norms, and consider it a ‘house
church.’103 Certainly, this is how the group represents itself, and Xu has denied
that he considers crying “a theological requirement of Christian salvation.”104
In the wake of Xu’s arrest in 1997, his son defended him as “the leader of one
of the largest house churches in China,” and denied any knowledge of an orga-
nization called the All Sphere Church.105 Xu gained political asylum in the
United States around the year 2000,106 but the nature of this group and its sta-
tus vis-à-vis Christian orthodoxy remain a subject of contention.107
Three Grades of Servants (三班仆人 San ban puren)
The most extensive government operation against a Protestant-related

group to date has been directed against the Three Grades of Servants. This

102 David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the
Global Balance of Power (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2003), 87.
103 See chapters by Zhou Gonghe and Wang Ruizhen in Susanna Chen (陳韻珊), ed.,
真理異端真伪辨: 透視大陸教會異端問題 (Given English Title: Discerning Truth from
Heresies: A Critical Analysis of the Alleged and Real Heresies in Mainland China) (臺北: 基
督教與中國研究中心 [Christianity and China Research Center], 2000).
104 Aikman, Jesus in Beijing, 88.
105 Xu Lai’en (徐來恩), “Wode fuqin zenme le? 我的父親怎麼了?” [What’s wrong with my
father?], in 真理異端真伪辨: 透視大陸教會異端問題 (Given English Title: Discerning
Truth from Heresies: A Critical Analysis of the Alleged and Real Heresies in Mainland China),
ed. Susanna Chen (陳韻珊) (臺北: 基督教與中國研究中心 [Christianity and China
Research Center], 2000).
106 Timothy C. Morgan, “China Arrests Dozens of Prominent Christians,” Christianity Today
(2004). Available: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/februaryweb-only/2-16-31.0
.html?start=2. Accessed May 28, 2010.
107 See further, pp. 136, 168–70, 190–91 of this book.
46 CHAPTER 2
movement was founded in the late 1980s or early 1990s108 by Xu Wenku

徐文库 (also known as Xu Shuangfu 徐双富 and Xu Shengguang 徐圣光),
who was born in 1946 in Nanzhao county in Henan Province. The group’s name
is derived from Xu’s emphasis on triumvirates, which he taught recur through-
out the Bible. In the Old Testament, he instructed, the pattern is evident in
the three servants of God (Moses, Aaron and Pashur); in the time of Jesus, the
pattern is evident in the three friends of Jesus (Martha, Mary and Lazarus; see
John 11:1) and the parable of the three talents (Matthew 25:14–16). In the early
church, the pattern continued as God appointed apostles, prophets and teach-
ers (1 Corinthians 12:28).109
Xu occupied the top grade of ‘great servant’ (大仆人 da puren) in the
group’s hierarchy and styled himself as an end times prophet who commu-
nicated directly with God, just as Moses had in the Old Testament.110 Below
him were ‘lesser servants,’ (小仆人 xiao puren), ‘handmaids’ (使女 shinü) who
oversaw the organization in one or two provinces, and evangelists of lower
status. Financially, a host of small businesses run by believers sustained the
organization.111 A 2006 National Public Radio (USA) report estimated that the
group had half a million followers, making it one of China’s larger Protestant-
related new religious movements.112
The Ministry of Public Security listed the Three Grades of Servant group as
an ‘evil cult’ in March 1999, probably in response to the movement’s suspected
political designs, and its predictions that the apocalypse would descend in the
108 Kahn states late 1980s, while Lian states early 1990s. Joseph Kahn, “Violence Taints
Religion’s Solace for China’s Poor,” NYT, November 25, 2004; Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 225.
109 Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆人》” [Salvation
through Ascetic Devotions: Three Grades of Servants], in 真理異端真伪辨: 透視大陸
教會異端問題 (Given English Title: Discerning Truth From Heresies: A Critical Analysis of
the Alleged and Real Heresies in Mainland China), ed. Susanna Chen (陳韻珊) (臺北: 基
督教與中國研究中心 [Christianity and China Research Center], 2000), 109.
110 Kahn, “Violence Taints Religion’s Solace for China’s Poor”; Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu
dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆人》,” 108.
111 Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆人》,” 110–11;
Liu Zhiming and Deng Fei, “Xu Wenku and His Religious Empire,” Phoenix Weekly 11
(consec. 216) (April 15, 2006). Available at http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060429_1.htm.
112 Kuhn, “China Gives Christian Trio Death Terms in Killings.” Kahn reported that the group
claimed to have had over a million followers, but it is common for new religious move-
ments to overstate their following. Joseph Kahn, “China Executes at Least 12 Members of
a Secret Christian Sect,” NYT, November 30, 2006.
year 2000.113 Beginning in 2004, a crackdown on the group saw more than one
hundred members initially detained in Heilongjiang province in April,114 and
over sixty members prosecuted over 2004–2005.115 More dramatically, in early
2006, three leaders were sentenced to death and approximately a dozen other
members received jail terms for fraud and involvement in twenty homicides,
the victims of which were mostly former members who had joined Eastern
Lightning. The murders occurred over 2002–2004 in the provinces of Shandong,
Henan, Chongqing City, Gansu, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning, and involved
such gruesome acts as live burial, strangulation, stabbing and beating.116
A 2006 audio-visual presentation made by the Chinese Anti-Cult Association
interviewed public security personnel, ‘cult’ members who were then awaiting
sentencing, and their victims’ family members.117 Their allegations were sup-
ported by the New York Times’ interviews with victims of other violent incidents,
which were likewise borne of internecine conflict between the Three Grades
of Servant and Eastern Lightning.118 For his part, in court, leader Xu Wenku
retracted his previous confession on ordering the homicides and alleged that
it had been obtained under torture. His daughter protested his innocence and
described him as a “true” and “devout Christian.”119 Xu was nevertheless exe-
cuted in November 2006, after which reports of the group dwindled.
Eastern Lightning (东方闪电 Dongfang shandian)
Each of the aforementioned groups has been censured in the Chinese secu-
lar and Protestant press and denounced as an ‘evil cult’ (邪教 xiejiao) by the
Chinese government. Eastern Lightning, however, has attracted the greatest
ire because it is the largest of these groups and has made the greatest inroads
into Protestant communities. As introduced in Chapter 1, Eastern Lightning

114 U S Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004,” vol. 1
(Washington, DC: 2005), 704.
115 Kahn, “China Executes at Least 12 Members of a Secret Christian Sect.”
116 For a detailed description of the incidents, see Tony Lambert, “Sanbanpuren—Three
Grades of Servant Part 1: The Murders,” China Insight (March/April 2007).
117 Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Jingti maoyong zongjiao min-
gyi de feifa zuzhi 警惕冒用宗教名义的非法组织” [Beware of illegal organiza-
tions using the name of religion] (2006). Available at http://www.zjtxdj.com/content
.aspx?id=300000002214. Accessed September 23, 2014.
118 Kahn, “Violence Taints Religion’s Solace for China’s Poor.”
119 Kuhn, “China Gives Christian Trio Death Terms in Killings.”
48 CHAPTER 2
explains its origins in the following statement: “In 1991, a sister in the church
was moved by and received word from the Holy Spirit, and testified to ‘God’s
name’ and ‘God’s arrival.’ ”120 The identity of this woman and the teachings of
Eastern Lightning are discussed in detail in Chapter 3 of this book. Here, suf-
fice it to note that this woman is identified by Eastern Lightning as Christ, and
said to have returned to China to end the present age in accordance with bibli-
cal prophecy.
Other Chinese sources present a far more complex account of Eastern
Lightning’s origins. They charge a middle-aged man named Zhao Weishan
赵维山, once a physics teacher or railroad worker, with founding the move-
ment. These sources report that Zhao, originally from Yongyuan township of
Acheng municipality in Heilongjiang province, was a member of the Shouters
in the late 1980s. He left the group with other believers in 1989 to form an off-
shoot called the Church of the Everlasting Foundation (永存的根基教会
Yongcun de genji jiaohui), in which he presented himself as a “Lord of Ability”
(能力主 nengli zhu). The Heilongjiang government cracked down on the group
and shut down its printing house in 1991, whereupon Zhao fled with other
leaders to Henan. In May 1992, a Christian magazine reported that a group
called “the New Church of the Lord of Ability” (新能力主教会 Xin nengli zhu
jiaohui) had been distributing tracts and cassette recordings in the southwest
Henan since March 1991. One of these tracts was titled Lightning from the East.
However, this report does not mention a Female Christ, suggesting that the
doctrine developed subsequently.121
The different stories of Eastern Lightning’s origins in the Female Christ and
Zhao Weishan respectively serve their tellers’ interests. With respect to the
Chinese government, Zhao Weishan’s leadership reinforces its depiction of
‘cults’ as headed by indolent, poorly educated, self-seeking and criminal men;
for Eastern Lightning, a goddess figure may be more attractive to prospective
recruits—the vast majority of whom are themselves female—and withhold-
ing her ‘earthly’ name protects her and those in direct contact with her from
persecution. The interests of the authors of each class of sources complicate
our ability to discern the true origins of Eastern Lightning. However, a close
reading of their materials suggests that there is some truth to the external
reports. Eastern Lightning material does not mention Zhao or any other leader
by name, but their ten commandments (formally entitled “Ten Administrative
Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Obey in the Age of the Kingdom”)
120 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us], 2.

121 Xu Shengyi (许圣义), “Jingti pi zongjiao waiyide fandong zuzhi 警惕披宗教外衣的反
动组织” [Beware of reactionary organizations in religious garb], TF 5 (1992): 24.
dictate that adherents “should take orders from the man used by the Holy
Spirit in everything and should not disobey any of them but should obey them
absolutely.”122 One of their scriptures elaborates:
Because no one can directly understand God’s word or God’s will, God
raises up a man used by him to do such work. The man used by God can
be said to be a go-between through whom God leads people and an ‘inter-
preter’ through whom God communicates with people.123
While “the man used by the Holy Spirit” is never named in Eastern Lightning
texts, he could reconcile the state’s depiction of Eastern Lightning with its self-
presentation. It is possible that Zhao Weishan, while not publicly acknowledged
by Eastern Lightning, has been at the heart of its formation and organization.
While the Female Christ is worshipped as an Almighty God, in practice Zhao
may wield considerable power in the running of the movement.124 Eastern
Lightning’s writings lend further weight to accounts of the group as having
split from the Shouters through Zhao; these writings frequently use Local
Church jargon such as “eating and drinking God’s word” (吃喝神话 chihe
shenhua).125 An “About Us” statement on Eastern Lightning’s website also for-
merly acknowledged this pedigree.126
Like other new religious movements, Eastern Lightning is a tiered organiza-
tion. A Supervisory Unit (监察组 jiancha zu) is an administrative structure
responsible for communicating instructions from “the top”, and inspecting
and reporting on churches every six months. Leaders (带领 dailing) and their
Assistants (配搭 peida) lead churches at regional (区 qü), sub-regional (小区
xiaoqü) and church (教会 jiaohui) levels. Each region and sub-region has a
Preacher (讲道员 jiangdao yuan), and Deacons for Evangelism (传福音执事
122 “Ten Administrative Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Obey,” in Church of Almighty
God, The Word Appears in the Flesh (short title: WAF), contents p. 4, item 63.
123 “A Word About God Using Men,” in Church of Almighty God, The Scroll that the Lamb
Opened: From “The Word Has Appeared in the Flesh” (short title: SLO), 2. Electronic version
in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 3, item 37.
124 Given that Zhao claimed political asylum in the USA around 2001, “the man used by
the Holy Spirit” could also refer to key leaders such as Yi Haitao 伊海涛, about whom
no further information is available. For mention of Yi and other leaders’ names, see
“Announcement from the First Division of the Shijiazhuang Public Security Bureau,”
Chinese Law and Government 36, no. 2 (2003 [2000]): 67.
125 “On Normal Spiritual Living,” in Church of the Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 3, item 34.
“Eating and drinking God’s word” refers to reading and absorbing scripture.
126 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us] (2005 version).
50 CHAPTER 2
chuan fuyin zhishi). The division of responsibilities between levels is not very
specific, but all officers must report to their superiors, and supervise and guide
their subordinates to the “Truth.”127
Information about Eastern Lightning’s church activities is given in its
“Handbook of Principles for Church Work,” which was available from Eastern
Lightning’s website for several months in early 2006 and is reported by Chinese
Protestants to circulate on the ground.128 The Handbook suggests, but does not
stipulate, that each congregation meet three times per week for two hours at a
time.129 There are to be no more than fifty people in each church, and members
are to divide into small groups of between three and seven to meet, the precise
number depending on the local security situation.130 No formal liturgy is pre-
scribed, but it is suggested that each service open with prayer and be followed
by hymns.131 Only hymns approved by the top level of the church hierarchy are
permitted; both hymns and scripture are circulated among the congregations
on CD and can be downloaded in MP3 format from Eastern Lightning’s web-
sites. The hymns consist of passages of scripture and individuals’ reflections
set to tunes borrowed from such heterogenous sources as folk songs, popular
television and movie themes, and songs used for patriotic education from the
1950s through to the 1990s.132 As the service continues, members are to listen
to a reading of Eastern Lightning scripture, which perhaps reflects a low level
of literacy among adherents. There is then to be a time of “fellowship” (交通
jiaotong), during which members of the congregation are given the opportu-
nity to speak, presumably to share their reflections on the passage just heard
or their own religious experience. The service may conclude with more hymns
and another prayer. Eastern Lightning’s documents notably omit the common
Christian rites of baptism and communion.
Eastern Lightning was just one of a myriad heterodox groups to emerge dur-
ing the early 1990s, and did not receive significant attention from Protestant
127 “Guanyu jiaohui geji dialing gongren de zhize guiding 关于教会各级带领工人的职责

规定” [Rules for leaders at all levels of the church], in Church of Almighty God, Guanyu
jiaohui gongzuo de jiaotong jiangdao yu jiaohui gongzuo anpai linian huibian 关于教会工
作的交通讲道与教会工作安排历年汇编 [Compilation of plans and talks concerning
church work over the years; short title: 关于教会工作], vol. 1, contents p. 2, item 79.
128 Church of Almighty God, Jiaohui gongzuo yuanze shouce 教会工作原则手册 [Handbook
of principles for church work].
129 Ibid., chap. 24.
130 Ibid., chap. 8.
131 Ibid., chap. 24.
132 Church of Almighty God, Gensuizhe gaoyang chang xin’ge 跟随着羔羊唱新歌. I thank
Haiqing Yu for her assistance in identifying a selection of these tunes.
or state authorities until later that decade. Even its identification as a ‘cult’
by the Ministry of Public Security in 1995 failed to curb the group’s develop-
ment. On the contrary, Eastern Lightning reports that membership “increased
rapidly” from 1997,133 corresponding with large numbers of Protestant reports
during 1997 and 1998 that alleged coercive behaviors on the part of Eastern
Lightning evangelists and expressed dismay at the heretical doctrine of the
Female Christ.134 These reports coincided with the Chinese media adopting
global anti-cult discourses, the suppression of the Established King sect, and
escalating tensions between Falun Gong and Chinese authorities.
Commonalities
Each of the new religious movements discussed here has become notorious
for certain features. Eastern Lightning teaches of a Female Christ, the Shouters
shout, and Hua’s name is important to the Efficacious Spirit sect. All lay exclu-
sive claim to the True Way (真道 zhen dao), and vie against one another in
what the New York Times dubbed a “bull market in sects and cults competing
for souls.”135 The competition has bred a degree of fanaticism, and resulted
in instances of sobering internecine violence. Yet despite the avowed rivalry,
there are also commonalities between the groups in the profile of their found-
ers, organizational structure, proselytizing activities, doctrine and ritual.
Heresiarch and Organization

The founder of Protestant-related new religious movements in contemporary
China is typically male, middle-aged, and from rural north China. He has con-
verted to Christianity early in the reform era, and thus is familiar with some
Christian traditions and doctrine. None of the heresiarchs have been involved
with the TSPM, but rather have been associated with unofficial, autochtho-
nous groups that draw on millenarian Pentecostalism. The founder claims to
have received divine revelation that he is Christ incarnate or a prophet spe-
cially anointed by God to undertake His work in these ‘end times.’ Holding out
promises of access to the truth (or at least a superior version of it), everlasting
salvation, and perhaps physical healing or material blessing, he attracts and
133 “The Spreading of the Work of God’s Second Incarnated Flesh in Mainland China,” in
Church of Almighty God, About Us, 4.
134 See, for example, the November 1997 issue of Tian Feng (天风).
135 Kahn, “Violence Taints Religion’s Solace for China’s Poor.”
52 CHAPTER 2
leads a handful of followers from his former church who proceed to proselytize
Protestants and establish organizational and doctrinal frameworks.
The organizations comprise multiple tiers. The titles of these tiers are often
drawn from Protestant forms of organization such as ‘elder’ (长老 zhanglao)
or ‘deacon’ (执事 zhishi); Wu Yangming and Liu Jiaguo’s former affiliations
with the Shouters were evident as the Established King and Lord God Sect sim-
ilarly had the rank of ‘authority’ (权柄 quanbing).136 As is the case in Chinese
Protestantism, women commonly occupy positions of leadership, though
sources outside the movements report this comes at the cost of sexual abuse
or exploitation.
Chinese accounts emphasize the leader’s formidable command over the
organization and the total obedience demanded of followers. They point out
that their tiered structure can be used not only to organize and mobilize, but
also to surveil and control hapless subordinates.137 While these accounts are
often interested in vilifying the movements and must therefore be interrogated,
they have received some support from Kindopp’s study of the Local Church, in
which Kindopp reflects on Witness Lee’s “dominance as a charismatic spiritual
authority who commands total allegiance from his followers,” and concludes
that this group “exhibits the attributes of a personality cult more than a bot-
tom-up movement.”138 The waning of the Established King group following Wu
Yangming’s execution likewise suggests that the success of Protestant-related
new religious movements may be tied to their founder. Conversely, the found-
er’s role is more ambiguous in the case of Eastern Lightning. Its leaders have
eluded CCP authorities, thereby contributing to the movement’s longevity.
The Protestant-related new religious movements discussed in this chap-
ter are largely indigenous and independent of foreign support. Clearly, some
new religious movements do have foreign links; in the case of the Shouters,
Witness Lee developed his teachings in the USA and missionaries then spread
the doctrine into China. While the group has become largely self-sufficient
within the mainland, a Hong Kong resident was caught attempting to smuggle
33,000 Recovery bibles to Fujian in mid-2000, suggesting continuing exter-
nal bonds.139 Eastern Lightning also operates overseas (chiefly, the USA), and
given that most adherents are of humble means, it is possible that some of the
136 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 103; Lee, “Christianity in
Contemporary China: An Update,” 298.
137 For example, Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆
人》,” 110–13.
138 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 444.
139 Ibid., 456.
funding for its publications comes from abroad. In most cases, however, groups
have originated in China and there is no evidence of foreign support. On the
contrary, the new religious movements that have originated in Hong Kong and
Taiwan—namely, the New Testament Church and its progeny, Moses Tsuo’s
Church Rebuilt by the Holy Spirit—have met with negligible success on the
mainland.
Proselytizing and Publishing

As their rapid transmission attests, Protestant-related new religious movements
in contemporary China place a strong emphasis on proselytizing, reflecting the
zeal for ‘spreading the Word’ (传道 chuan dao) in Chinese Protestantism. From
a religious perspective, proselytizing saves individuals from damnation in the
next world and possibly misfortune in the present, and is part of establishing
God’s kingdom on earth. From a pragmatic point of view, it is necessary for the
religion’s continued operation and growth.
New religious movements proselytize almost exclusively among Protestants
because they are perceived as being more sympathetic than the general popu-
lation by virtue of religious similarities, and their own experiences of religious
persecution. As in Protestantism, neophytes are usually recruited through
familial and regional ties.140 In this way, new religious movements instinctively
recognize the finding of studies in the sociology of religion that new religions
grow alongside relationships between members and prospective recruits, and
that “disembodied appeals” are an ineffective means of proselytizing.141 In the
Chinese context, this is also a consequence of the proscribed nature of these
religions—friends and family are thought less liable to report evangelists to the
authorities than strangers. This said, believers are dispatched both within the
local area and to other provinces to establish new churches.142 Occasionally,
proselytizing may also be open and brazen, such as publicly distributing pam-
phlets and tracts.143
140 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 127, 129.

141 William Sims Bainbridge, The Sociology of Religious Movements (New York: Routledge,
1997), 154.
142 Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 案”; Wu
Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 103; Shang Zhong (尚钟), “Xiejiao
zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ bei yifa qudi 邪教组织 ‘被立王’ 被依法取缔.”
143 In October 1994, for example, the Established King movement printed an “open letter”
proclaiming the imminence of Judgment Day and slandering the TSPM. Believers in
Shanghai then distributed this at bus stops, wharfs, schools, and churches, and to selected
town- and village-level government organs. Kong Xiangtao (孔祥涛), “Xiejiao zuzhi
‘Beiliwang’ an 邪教组织’ 被立王’ 案.” For mention of Shouters’ pamphlet distribution
54 CHAPTER 2
Material used for proselytizing and other religious purposes is presented

in various formats according to their intended audience’s level of literacy,
and the organization’s financial resources and level of technological sophis-
tication. With the increasing uptake and availability of technology in China,
websites, emails, and instant messaging services such as QQ are increasingly
used by some of the larger groups.144 At one end of the spectrum, the Local
Church’s publisher disseminates Witness Lee and Watchman Nee’s teachings
through the Recovery Version bible, miscellaneous books, and hymnals, which
they also make available in electronic format online. Such is the reach of the
Local Church that pamphlets advertising the Recovery Version were dropped
into my letterbox in Melbourne in 2004! Books, tracts, CDs and DVDs are now
often seized by authorities, the latter having replaced the cassette tapes popu-
lar during the 1980s. At the other end of the spectrum, even in the late 1990s the
Disciples’ materials were sometimes copied by hand as the Bible has been by
Protestants during times of shortage, such as the Cultural Revolution.145
Doctrine
Protestant-related new religious movements are markedly apocalyptic, teach-
ing that China is presently undergoing the tribulations that the Book of
Revelation foretells will precede the coming of a new heaven and new earth.
Natural disasters, astrological configurations, social malaise and outbreaks of
disease are all interpreted as evidence of this. Accordingly, religious and politi-
cal adversaries are denounced as evil opposition in these last days—the TSPM
as the “great harlot” (大淫妇 da yin fu) who betrays the church in Revelation
(17:1–6) and the CCP as a “satanic power” (撒旦政权 Sadan zhengquan) that
will soon fall away to be replaced by “God’s kingdom” on earth.146 These new
religious movements are also millenarian, proclaiming either that Jesus’ return
in Anhui province in 1995, see “Notice on Further Strengthening of the Investigation Work
on the Cultic Organization Almighty God,” Chinese Law and Government 36, no. 2 (2003
[1999]): 63. For Eastern Lightning, see pp. 94, 118 and cover illustration of this book.
144 Wu Minggao (吴明高), “Xiejiao weifa fanzui huodong de qushi ji chuzhi duice 邪教违法
犯罪活动的趋势及处置对策,” 81.
145 Xu Dike (许弟科), Zhang Shitong (张世桐), and Huang Jinsong (黄劲松), “Songzi shi
‘kuangye zhaimen’ huodong de diaocha baogao 松滋市 ‘旷野窄门’ 活动的调查报告,”
37; Jiang Chen (江沉), “Chenzhongde shizijia: Zhang Yongfang canyu “mentuhui” cuowu
jishi 沉重的十字架——张永芳参与”门徒会”错误纪实”[A heavy cross: Zhang
Yongfang’s involvement in the “Disciples”], 党风与廉政 8 (1995): 2.
146 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 37–40.
has taken place or is imminent, and that we are now in the end times.147 Some
attached particular anticipation to the year 2000.148
Many claim that the believer will be blessed by miracles—their land will
not require expensive fertilizers to grow crops and their illnesses will be
healed. In some cases, there is an ascetic bent to these teachings; the Disciples
teach that the less a believer eats, the higher their level of spiritual attainment
or maturity, and the more sincere their repentance.149 State and Protestant
accounts of new religious movements are critical of these teachings because
they lead believers to neglect ‘normal’ activities. Peasants cease to plant and
harvest altogether in face of the anticipated millennium, or reap less because
they have not fertilized their crops. Rejecting conventional medical treatment
leads to death, and fasting to malnutrition. As revealed in subsequent chap-
ters, Eastern Lightning’s texts support some of these allegations of fanaticism.
While most of these new religious movements view the Bible as having been
superseded by their own texts, they also legitimize their doctrines by present-
ing them as fulfilling biblical prophecy and teaching. Adding to the ambigu-
ous role of Christian teachings, some new religious movements are reported to
blend them with excerpts from classical Chinese texts such as the Confucian
Analects, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the teachings of Mencius.150
Bolstered by such syntheses, reports of new religious movements are dismis-
sive of their doctrinal content and present it as underdeveloped at best, and
more often as a mere guise used by malicious individuals to facilitate criminal
and immoral malefactions.151 Due to lack of access to sources from the groups
in question, evaluating these accusations is difficult, as is forming a thorough
understanding of doctrinal content. However, in many cases it does seem that
followers are persuaded by fairly simple arguments. Hua Xuehe 华雪和, for
example, has been able to attract devotees on the basis that his name resem-
bles the Chinese word for Jehovah (耶和华 Yehehua). In other cases, promises
147 Classical studies of millenarianism include Yonina Talmon, “Millenarian Movements,”

Archives Européennes de Sociologie 7, no. 2 (1966); Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the
Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1970).
148 Of the Established King and Three Grades of Servant, for example, see “Notice on Various
Issues,” 31–32. Of Eastern Lightning, see chap. 3 of this book.
注新兴膜拜团体的破坏性因素,” 53.
150 For example, Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆
人》,” 111.
151 See pp. 97–98 of this book.
56 CHAPTER 2
of good fortune and hopes of miracles may be more important than issues of
doctrine.
Gatherings and Ritual

The patterns of new religious movements’ religious gatherings resemble those
developed by Christians during the Cultural Revolution. To avoid persecution
during these years, Protestants in rural areas of Henan, for example, met under
the cover of darkness, often with just a few others, and frequently changed
the location of their meetings.152 New religious movements also typically meet
several times each week under clandestine conditions, and their members
even adopt aliases to minimize the chance of being reported to the authorities
by a fellow believer or an undercover officer.153
While the state represents these precautions as evidence of the movements’
‘tight organization,’ it is likely that their operation at a grassroots level is largely
decentralized and informal. While Eastern Lightning leadership prescribes a
modicum of structure to meetings, there is evidently sufficient flexibility
within this framework for the self-determination of individual churches. The
Eastern Lightning Handbook allows that
There are many kinds of meeting styles: singing hymns, dancing, praying,
and consuming God’s Word can all be used creatively . . . Each church is to
arrange how many times per week it will meet. You can meet more in the
agricultural slack season; in the future, when the [security] environment
permits, you can also have large meetings. The churches themselves are
in charge of these matters; the upper levels do not plan them.154
Despite this autonomy, the religious activity of new religious movements is

broadly similar to that of the Pentecostal and charismatic expressions of
Protestantism, which have been predominant in the growth of the religion
in China over the past thirty years, and also featured in the autochthonous
denominations of the republican period.155 In worship services, the followers
152 “The Indigenous Church of Wuyang,” Bridge 28 (1988): 3; Lambert, China’s Christian
Millions, 86–89.
153 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), “Touxi lingling jiao 透析灵灵教,” 267. Groups which use
aliases include Eastern Lightning and the Established King sect. See respectively p. 143 of
this book and Leung Ka-lun (梁家麟), “Suben qingyuan 溯本清源,” 33.
154 Church of Almighty God, 教会工作原则手册, chap. 10.3.
155 Bays, “Indigenous Protestant Churches in China, 1900–1937,” 129.
of these movements are reported to emphasize glossolalia,156 to “dance in

the spirit” (跳灵舞 tiao lingwu), and to weep or shout.157 Healings are also an
important part of religious ritual, and because illness is often interpreted as a
sign of demon possession, so are exorcisms.158 Many groups have composed
their own hymns, which are set to the tunes of folk, pop and or Communist
propaganda songs. The Efficacious Spirit Teachings, for example, reportedly set
lyrics exalting their leader to the tune of “Study Lei Feng’s Example” (学习雷
锋好榜样 Xuexi Lei Feng hao bangyang).159 The lack of formal liturgy follows
the informal custom of Chinese house churches, and is suited to a membership
that possesses little formal education.
Membership and Scope

Affiliation with Protestant-related new religious movements occurs simply
through an acceptance of their teachings. An Eastern Lightning document
advises “Provided the person is not too wicked, too bad, or too evil, and in their
heart they truly believe that the Almighty God is the Word become flesh, you
should admit them into the church.”160 Each of the movements introduced in
the present chapter is reported to have spread to multiple provinces—a dozen
or even all of them—but the number of adherents is difficult to ascertain due
to the illegal status of the groups, and the conflicting figures cited by Chinese
reports. While estimates are therefore somewhat speculative, it seems reason-
able to suppose that some of the larger groups such as Eastern Lightning have
attracted several hundred thousand members at their peak, or perhaps closer
to one million.161
156 Eastern Lightning is an exception to this, and discourages speaking in tongues..

157 Edmond Tang, “ ‘Yellers’ and Healers: Pentecostalism and the Study of Grassroots
Christianity in China,” in Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in
Asia, ed. Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2005),
8. On the Efficacious Spirit Teachings also Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), “Touxi lingling jiao
透析灵灵教,” 267. As Laaman points out, “spirit dancing” (跳神 tiao shen) was an ele-
ment of popular religion, consistent with ancient shamanic ritual. Laamann, Christian
Heretics in Late Imperial China, 30.
158 For a report of Hua Xuehe teaching this, see Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), “Touxi lingling jiao
透析灵灵教,” 268.
159 Ibid., 267; Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 61.
160 Church of Almighty God, 教会工作原则手册.
161 Lian Xi suggests that the three largest groups (Three Grades of Servant, Eastern Lightning
and the Disciples) may have a combined membership of approximately two million. Lian
Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 222. Concerning Eastern Lightning, see also p. 139 of this book.
58 CHAPTER 2
There is no doubt that Protestant-related new religious movements are at

their strongest in areas of rural north China, which have experienced a rapid
growth in Protestantism since the early 1980s. Two decades ago, they were
almost entirely a rural phenomenon, but are increasingly taking root in cities
as China continues to urbanize and experiences internal migration.162 The
movements also appear to have only small numbers of adherents among ethnic
minorities; there is no evidence of materials having been translated into other
dialects. Nevertheless, some Protestant-related new religious movements are
making their presence felt in areas populated by ethnic minorities.163
The most extensive study of the demographic composition of Protestant-
related new religious movements is that conducted by Wu Dongsheng, who
collated data on approximately seven hundred members of the Lord God’s
Teachings, the All Sphere Church and the Association of Disciples in 1996.
Between 60 and 70 percent of the subjects were female,164 and approximately
half were between 31 and 60 years of age. Peasants comprised over 95 percent,
and those who were illiterate or had only a primary school education more than
85 percent. More recent, smaller-scale studies support the characterization
of new religious movements as primarily attracting middle-aged and elderly
women of relatively low educational attainment. This is broadly consistent
with the demographic makeup of Protestantism in rural north China in the
reform era.165
My own examination of data from Eastern Lightning confirms that it is cen-
tered in the north-central province of Henan. In 2009, I examined 3400 testi-
monies published by Eastern Lightning over four separate collections, which
cited their subjects’ province of origin.166 As Figure 2 demonstrates, the most
162 Gu Mengfei (顾梦飞), “H sheng Jidujiao yiduan ji xiejiao huodong diaocha fenxi H 省基
督教异端暨邪教活动调查分析” [A survey and analysis of the activities of Protestant
heresies and cults in H province], NTR 1 (2011): 26–27.
163 From Inner Mongolia, see “2012 shi da dianxing shi anli 2012 十大典型事案例” [Ten top
cases of 2012], 法制资讯 1 (2013).
164 This figure and others attributed to Wu in this paragraph from Wu Dongsheng (吴东升),
Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 181–82.
165 Li Liang, “Protestant Christianity in Henan,” CSJ 9, no. 2 (1994): 4. Chen Meilin, “The Status
and Role of Women in the Growing Church of China,” CTR 17 (2003): 98–103.
166 The following are 2009 versions of texts published by the Church of Almighty God:
Shengling yindao ren guixiang quannengshen de jianzheng 圣灵引导人归向全能神的
见证 [Testimonies to the Holy Spirit’s guiding people to turn to the Almighty God]; Jingli
Jidu huayu shenpan xingfa de jianzheng 经历基督话语审判刑罚的见证 [Testimonies
of experiencing the judgment of the Word of Christ]; Jidujiao gezong gepai didang quan-
nengshen shou chengfa de dianxing shili 基督教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型
Other
19%
Henan
29%
Shanxi
4%
Liaoning
7%
Jiangsu
11% Anhui
17%
Shandong
13%
figure 2 Origin of adherents in Eastern Lightning testimonies.
common province of origin given was Henan, from which close to one third of
all testimonies were sourced; Anhui, Shandong and Jiangsu were also home to
a significant proportion of adherents.
In these testimonies, women (‘sisters’, or 姊妹 zimei) rather than men
(‘brothers’, or 弟兄 dixiong) are more often said to initially evangelize the sub-
jects. Additionally, a significant proportion of the cases that omit mention of
sex ascribe activities to the subject that are gendered in rural China (chiefly,
domestic chores such as washing clothes, cooking and child minding).
The Protestant Cultic Milieu in Contemporary China
The rise of sectarian movements in post-Mao China is frequently explained

with reference to the deprivations endured by China’s rural poor. The retreat
of the state from social organization has left an organizational, spiritual and
social vacuum, and waves of internal migration have exacerbated the decline
事例 [Typical cases of punishment for resisting the Almighty God; short title: 受惩罚];
Ge zongpai shouling bei shen huayu zhengfu de tiezheng 各宗派首领被神话语征服的
铁证 [Ironclad proofs of being conquered by God’s Word].
60 CHAPTER 2
in social cohesion. Peasants experience particular insecurity as their incomes

remain low and they still lack access to affordable health care.167 These factors
have undoubtedly contributed to the rise of the movements introduced in this
chapter. Moving from the question of why these groups have emerged to how,
Kristin Kupfer points out that new religious movements mobilize assets.168
What I would add to this discussion is that the cultural resources evident in
Protestant-related movements are not unique to each group but are shared;
they come from a common reservoir that nourishes multiple religious move-
ments, and from which religious individuals can freely draw. In the long run,
this reservoir is more significant than any single movement.
In 1972, British sociologist Colin Campbell argued that given the oft-
ephemeral nature of cults they “must exist within a milieu which, if not condu-
cive to the maintenance of individual cults, is clearly highly conducive to the
spawning of cults in general.”169 He was writing about the New Age movement
in 1960s England, but the salience of his work to the Chinese context is mani-
fest: he described this “cultic milieu” as comprising “deviant belief systems and
their associated practices,” which are united by a common position as devi-
ant or heterodox in relation to “dominant cultural orthodoxies.” Hence, David
Palmer has suggested that the burgeoning of qigong denominations during the
early reform period in China indicates a “cultic milieu” of the kind outlined by
Campbell.170 The movements that are the subject of this chapter have arisen
from another milieu that developed alongside the growth of Protestantism
early in the reform era, and substantially overlaps with popular Protestantism
in the rural north. Features of this milieu include charismatic phenomena, an
intensive focus on proselytizing, millenarianism, and distant links to the indig-
enous Protestant sects founded during the early twentieth century.
Campbell also wrote that the cultic milieu serves as an agent of cultural
diffusion, facilitating the accommodation of “alien” cultural items into a host
culture.171 The religious movements discussed in this chapter both reflect and
contribute to the appropriation of some elements of Protestantism by Chinese
communities in rural areas. Many peasants are evidently now familiar with the
167 Munro, “Syncretic Sects and Secret Societies,” 5–7; Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 230–32.
168 Kupfer, “Saints, Secrets, and Salvation.”
169 Colin Campbell, “The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization [1972],” in The Cultic
Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization, ed. Jeffrey Kaplan and Heléne
Lööw (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002), 14.
170 David A. Palmer, Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2007), 14n26.
171 Campbell, “Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization [1972],” 19.
figure of Jesus Christ, the vocabulary of the Bible, and with Christian rituals
such as singing hymns, tithing, confession and prayer. Moreover, they are so
comfortable with these elements as to incorporate them into new tapestries of
meaning, identity and belief. This is significant because Protestantism has long
borne the stigma of being a ‘foreign religion’ (洋教 yangjiao).
Given the current lack of access to adherents and texts for many of these
movements, there remains much to discover about them, but it seems that
there will be ample time in which to do so. Campbell writes that the cul-
tic milieu is a constant feature of society, continually spawning new cults
and absorbing extinct ones.172 Over the last thirty years, some heterodox
movements have fallen, and others have risen to take their place. When the
Established King group was suppressed, the Lord God sect attracted many of
its followers; lesser-known, smaller groups centered on individual prophets are
also constantly forming and dissolving.173 The Protestant-related cultic milieu
is thus a creative and resilient feature of the Chinese religious panorama.
Eastern Lightning emerged from this milieu, and has come to epitomize it.
172 Ibid., 14.

173 For example, Wu Yongnan (吴勇南), “You yige jia jidu mihuo qunzhong 又一个假基督
迷惑群众” [Another false Christ misleads the masses], TF 4 (1996): 26. Also “A Christian
Sect: The ‘Three Kings’ Are Punished for Plotting ‘Ascensions to Heaven,’ ” in Munro,
“Syncretic Sects and Secret Societies,” 33.
CHAPTER 3
The Teachings of Eastern Lightning
On February 11 1991, Eastern Lightning’s God announced his return to earth

with jubilation:1
Praises have come to Zion. God’s dwelling place has appeared. The glori-
ous holy name is being praised and proclaimed by all the peoples. Oh!
Almighty God, the head of the universe, the last Christ, is indeed the
shining sun, which has risen on the majestic and grand Mount Zion in
the entire universe. Real God incarnated in the flesh, we shout for joy to
you; we dance and sing. You are truly our Redeemer, the great King of the
universe!2
These words were to become the beginning of Eastern Lightning’s scripture. In

speeches recorded and words written over the ensuing six years, the Almighty
God and Female Christ proclaimed that the end of the present era was nigh
and that the prophecies of Revelation were soon to be fulfilled. They instructed
their followers to build a church, and promised that their detractors would be
punished. The apocalypse was imminent, but those who remained loyal to the
Almighty God would be safe.
This chapter expounds Eastern Lightning’s teachings as set forth in its scrip-
tures and reflected in sermons, essays and testimonies. I explain the doctrine
of ‘lightning from the east,’ the identity of the Female Christ, her work sus-
taining believers through trials and punishing unbelievers, and the evolving
expectations surrounding the end of the present age. Secondly and concur-
rently, this chapter addresses the relationship between Eastern Lightning’s
teachings and Chinese religious history. To what extent is Eastern Lightning a
1 For the sake of brevity in this chapter I have frequently omitted such clauses as “Eastern
Lightning teaches / claims that.” Hence, statements of the variety “The Holy Spirit spoke” are
to be read as “Eastern Lightning teaches that the Holy Spirit spoke.” The date of February 11,
1991, and “God’s” use of the third person are noted in “Neirong jianjie 内容简介” [Overview]
in hard copy of Church of Almighty God, Hua zai roushen xianxian 话在肉身显现 [The
Word appears in the flesh], 2.
2 “Di yi pian shuohua 第一篇说话” [The first speech], in hard copy of Church of Almighty
God, 话在肉身显现, 9. On “Mount Zion,” see discussion of the New Testament Church on
pp. 39–42 of this book. The reference here to a rising, radiant sun carries Maoist overtones;
for more on Maoism and Eastern Lightning see pp. 77, 162 of this book.

The Teachings of Eastern Lightning 63
new, innovative movement, and to what extent do its texts draw from religious
and cultural traditions?
Why ‘Eastern Lightning’?
A good place to begin exploring Eastern Lightning’s teachings is with its popu-
lar name. ‘Eastern Lightning’ has been coined by people outside the group in
response to its use of a verse in the biblical gospel of Matthew: “For as lightning
that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the
Son of Man.”3 Here, Jesus speaks of his own eventual return to earth and “the
end of the age”; he will be the “lightning.”
Coincidentally, Chinese etymology also associates lightning with divinity.
Eastern Lightning uses the term 神 shen for God—a term historically asso-
ciated with pantheism, and more vernacular than the other main contender
in Protestant translations, 上帝 shangdi.4 A dictionary from the Han dynasty,
the second-century Explaining and Analyzing Characters (說文解字 shuowen
jiezi), records that the character 神 shen was formerly written as the homoph-
onous 申, which in turn originally meant lightning (电).5 Eastern Lightning
does not use this linguistic relationship as an apologetic argument, but many
Christians find significance in Chinese characters’ purported reflection of
biblical teaching, especially Genesis. (The traditional Chinese character for
‘righteousness’ [義], for example, shows a ‘lamb’ [羔] radical up the top and
‘me’ [我] down the bottom, and thus is perceived to reflect the Old Testament
prescription of animal sacrifices for sin and, indirectly, Jesus’ atoning work as
a sacrificial ‘lamb’ on the cross.) It is therefore possible that the historical link
between God (神) and lightning (电) bolsters support for Eastern Lightning’s
teachings at a popular level.
To adherents, the Female Christ revealed in the early 1990s is the lightning
that Jesus foretold, and as such signals the arrival of the end times. Thus, she
fulfills New Testament prophecy (including Revelation), just as Jesus’ coming
3 Matthew 24:27. Eastern Lightning uses the Chinese Union translation of the Bible.
4 Irene Eber, “The Interminable Term Question,” in Bible in Modern China: The Literary and
Intellectual Impact, ed. Irene Eber, Sze-Kar Wan, and Knut Walf (Sankt Augustin, Germany:
Institut Monumenta Serica, 1999).
5 Jia Jinhua (贾晋华), “Shenming shiyi 神明释义” [An exegesis of “Shenming”], 深圳大学学
报 (人文社会科学版) 31, no. 3 (2014): 5–6.
64 CHAPTER 3
fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.6 The ‘east’ mentioned in the Matthew verse
is identified as China, and so Jesus prophesied that Christ would return there,
before Eastern Lightning spreads to western nations. Interpreting biblical ref-
erences to the ‘east’ as referring to East Asia is common in new religious move-
ments across the region—including in the New Testament Church in Taiwan,
the Mahikari religion in Japan, the Unification Church (‘Moonies’) in Korea,
and the True Jesus Church and the Shouters in China.7
It would be easy to construe the Chinese nationality of this second Christ
as an expression of nationalism on the part of Eastern Lightning adherents.
Cultural and popular nationalism has been a prominent feature of Chinese
political and social life over the last two decades, manifest in Confucian
revivalism, the response to the spy plane collision over the South China Sea
in 2001, the Beijing Summer Olympiad of 2008, and clashes with Japan over
the Diaoyutai/Senkaku islands.8 Nationalism has also featured in many
Chinese Protestant movements. During the republican period, for example,
the True Jesus Church even presented itself as the “lightning from the east” of
Matthew 24;9 some contemporary Christians also see God as having a special
covenantal relationship with China.10
6 “Question 8,” in Church of Almighty God, Questions and Answers on the Testimony of the
Kingdom Gospel.
7 See, respectively, Grace of Jesus Christ Crusade (基督靈恩佈道團), “Behold!”; Catherine
Cornille, “Jesus in Japan: Christian Syncretism in Mahikari,” in Japanese New Religions in
the West ed. Peter B. Clarke and Jeffrey Somers (Sandgate, UK: Japan Library, 1994), 94,
also 102n19; George D. Chryssides, The Advent of Sun Myung Moon: The Origins, Beliefs
and Practices of the Unification Church (London: Macmillan, 1991), 43; Deng Zhaoming
(鄧肇明), “Indigenous Chinese Pentecostal Denominations,” in Asian and Pentecostal:
The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia, ed. Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang
(Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2005), 441; Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 217. See also
Isaiah 41:2; Ezekiel 43:2, 43:4.
8 Jacques deLisle, “ ‘One World, Different Dreams’: The Contest to Define the Beijing
Olympics,” in Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China, ed. Monroe E. Price
and Daniel Dayan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008), 34–36; Yingjie Guo,
Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary China: The Search for National Identity Under
Reform (New York: Routledge, 2004).
9 Lian Xi, “Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China,” 409, 416, 420; Carsten T. Vala,
“Protestant Reactions to the Nationalism Agenda in Contemporary China,” in Christianity
in Contemporary China: Socio-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Francis Khek Gee Lim (London:
Routledge, 2013).
10 Tobias Brandner, “Trying to Make Sense of History: Chinese Christian Traditions of
Countercultural Belief and Their Theological and Political Interpretation of Past and
In stark contrast to these movements, Eastern Lightning scripture states

repeatedly and unequivocally that China is the “filthiest country” and its peo-
ple most corrupted by the Devil.11 The nation’s backwardness and poverty are
singled out as evidence of sinfulness and inferiority:
Man’s corruption, filth, unrighteousness, opposition and rebelliousness

are most comprehensively displayed in Chinese people. All of these
things are manifest in them. On the one hand, they are of poor quality
(素质差 suzhi cha); on the other, their lives are backward, their think-
ing is backward, their habits and social environments, and the families
to which they were born are all poor and are all most backward, and the
status of these people is also low.12
Thus, Eastern Lightning’s proclamation that God has chosen China as the
site of the Second Advent is not an expression of national pride, but precisely
the opposite. He has chosen China because its darkness magnifies His
brilliance:
Why is the work of the end times being done in China, this darkest and
most backward of places? It is in order to show forth God’s holiness
and justice. The darker the place, the more it can show forth God’s
holiness.13
In addition to running counter to the tide of popular nationalism, these teach-

ings undermine state-led nationalism. Particularly since the time of Eastern
Lightning’s formation in the early 1990s, the state has claimed to be leading
a society that is increasingly modern, ‘civilized’ (文明 wenming), and pow-
ering ahead on the back of economic growth. In challenging this depiction
of China, Eastern Lightning refutes the state’s legitimacy, and discredits the
Present History,” in Christianity in Contemporary China: Socio-Cultural Perspectives, ed.

Francis Khek Gee Lim (London: Routledge, 2013), 80.
11 “The Vision of the Work (2),” in Church of Almighty God, The Scroll that the Lamb Opened:
From “The Word Has Appeared in the Flesh” (short title: SLO), 224–25, 403–4. Also available
online in Church of Almighty God, The Word Appears in the Flesh (short title: WAF), con-
tents p. 4, item 16.
12 “Zuogong yixiang (er) 作工异象（二）” [The Vision of the work (2)], in Church of
Almighty God, 话在肉身显现, contents p. 4, item 16.
13 “Di’er bu zhengfu gongzuo shi ruhe dadao guoxiao de 第二步征服工作是如何达到果
效的” [How to achieve results in the second step of the conquering work] in hard copy of
Church of Almighty God, 话在肉身显现, 908.
66 CHAPTER 3
ideology intended to unify the nation for socialist construction. What, then,
might account for Eastern Lightning’s antinationalism?
One possible source can be found in the cultural judgments made by some
missionaries to China in the late imperial period. The well-known Baptist
Timothy Richard (1845–1919), for example, viewed China as shackled by “igno-
rance and harmful custom.”14 Eastern Lightning echoes missionary admoni-
tions against ‘idolatry’ as it remarks that “Chinese people have . . . never served
Jesus. They only know to kowtow and burn incense, burn paper money and
worship Buddha, and worship idols.”15 However, missionary influence cannot
be the only contributing factor to Eastern Lightning’s antinationalism because
other churches in China with a strong missionary heritage do not commonly
exhibit national shame. Many TSPM churches were originally founded by
foreign missions but are fiercely patriotic; house churches have likewise pro-
fessed to “love the Lord, the Chinese people, and the state.”16 Further, Eastern
Lightning has only indirect links with the West, having descended from the
indigenous Little Flock and the Local Church founded by Watchman Nee and
Witness Lee respectively. In Eastern Lightning, any foreign input has been
indirect, and heavily mediated by Chinese agency.
Rather, Eastern Lightning’s antinationalism may draw more substantially
from Chinese sources. The religion was born at a time not only of national-
ism, but also of intellectual and popular critique of Chinese tradition. This
‘culture fever’ (文化热 wenhua re) began in the mid-1980s and reached its
apogee in 1988 with the television production of River Elegy (河殇 Heshang),
which blamed Chinese tradition for the nation’s backwardness and the tur-
moil of past decades. The Great Wall “could not stand for strength, progress
or glory” but only for “isolation, conservatism and incompetent defenses”; the
Yellow River was clogged with the silt of ancient civilization and must now
open up to the vast, sky-blue sea—the West.17 Culture fever in turn echoed
the critical spirit of the May Fourth period of roughly 1915–30, when intellec-
tuals blamed Chinese tradition for the nation’s weaknesses, as evidenced by
14 Timothy Richard, Forty-Five Years in China: Reminiscences (New York: Frederick A. Stokes,
1916), 7.
15 “An Extract From: The Significance of Saving the Descendants of Moab,” in hard copy of
Church of Almighty God, SLO, 398ff.
16 “Attitude of Chinese House Churches towards the Government, Its Religious Policy, and
the Three-Self Movement,” CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 58.
17 Xia Jun (夏骏), dir., 河殇 (River Elegy), Zhongyang dianshitai (CCTV): 1988. Available at
http://www.archive.org/details/ddtv_40_china_presenting_river_elegy. Accessed January
10, 2011.
military defeats at the hands of foreign powers from the mid-nineteenth cen-
tury. These movements catalyzed popular support for national revitalization
and modernization; alternatively, Eastern Lightning is much more apathetic
and despondent, encouraging only conversion to the religion.
Additionally, Eastern Lightning’s negative depiction of Chinese people
may reflect the internalization of Chinese development discourses and their
derogation of peasants. In China under Mao, to be a peasant was glorious. In
1927, Mao described the poor peasants in his home province of Hunan as “the
foremost heroes who have accomplished the great revolutionary undertak-
ing left unaccomplished for many years.”18 Accordingly, peasants were one of
the three classes regarded by Chinese socialists as the revolutionary leaders
of the New China.19 In recent decades, peasants’ social status has declined as
the market has grown. Since the late 1980s, the epithet of “lacking in [human]
quality” (素质差 suzhi cha) has frequently, though by no means exclusively,
been directed at precisely the demographic most prevalent among Eastern
Lightning followers—women from poor rural areas of Henan and Anhui.20
Although government officials and party representatives initially dissemi-
nated it, Gary Sigley has noted that the popularization of the term brings with
it the “potential for redirection from below.”21 In this vein, Eastern Lightning’s
characterization of the entire Chinese nation as benighted and of low suzhi
(as per quotation above) inverts state discourses of modernity and develop-
ment. While the neologism has been associated with state campaigns to elimi-
nate ‘superstition’ (迷信 mixin),22 in Eastern Lightning’s scriptures the tables
are turned as believers invoke a discourse of quality against those who deride
them.
In this way, heterodoxy lies at the heart of Eastern Lightning. The central
teaching that God has chosen China as the site of his second advent serves
18 Mao Zedong, “Report of an Investigation into the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” in The
Political Thought of Mao Tse-Tung, ed. Stuart R. Schram (New York: Praeger, 1969 [1927]),
254–55.
19 The three classes were workers, peasants, and soldiers (工农兵 gong nong bing).
20 Wanning Sun, “Suzhi on the Move: Body, Place, and Power,” positions: east asia cultures
critique 17, no. 3 (2009): 624–25, 634.
21 Gary Sigley, “Suzhi, the Body, and the Fortunes of Technoscientific Reasoning in
Contemporary China,” positions: east asia cultures critique 17, no. 3 (2009): 560; Tamara
Jacka, “Cultivating Citizens: Suzhi (Quality) Discourse in the PRC,” positions: east asia
cultures critique 17, no. 3 (2009): 524.
22 Ann Anagnost, National Past-Times: Narrative, Representation, and Power in Modern China
(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997), 75–76; Tamara Jacka, Rural Women in Urban
China: Gender, Migration and Social Change (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2005), 41.
68 CHAPTER 3
not only to exalt a deity—which itself conflicts with atheist Communism

and the five officially-operating religions—but also to propagate a view of
China as dark and primitive. Eastern Lightning is not the only Protestant-
related new religious movement to subvert the government’s depiction of
China; The Disciples circulate a text entitled Down with Eastern Customs
(打倒东方风俗 Dadao dongfang fengsu), suggesting that cultural iconoclasm
is prevalent among Protestant-related new religious movements and the cultic
milieu from which they draw.23
“Will the Female Christ Please Stand Up?”: Exploring Her Identity
Further to teaching that God has chosen China as the site of his second
coming, Eastern Lightning contends that the present incarnation is female. It
does so primarily on the basis of Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
According to this verse, God created humankind in his own image; he created
men and women, and therefore, Eastern Lightning reasons, God manifests as
both male and female:
If God only came as a male when he became flesh, people would decide
God was male, and that he was a God for men. They would never
think that God was for women, too. Then men would think of God as
having the male gender and as being the head of men. What about
women? This wouldn’t be fair. Wouldn’t it be biased? In this way, all those
that God saves would be men like he is, and no women would be saved.
When God created mankind, he created Adam and Eve. He didn’t only
create Adam, but created man and woman according to his image. God
isn’t only the God of men; he is also the God of women.24
23 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan ‘mentuhui’ de neimu 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside

the heretical “Disciples”], TF 1 (2008): 30. Despite rejecting traditions in some places,
Disciples’ texts also include reference to elements of Chinese tradition such as the Yuan
dynasty classic The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (24 孝 xiao). Liu Yanwu (刘燕舞),
“Sanshu Jidu zai Hunan de chuanbo—jiyu Hunan Mingcun, Huangcun, Xingcun sancun
de diaocha 三赎基督教在湖南的传播—基于湖南明村、黄村、星村三村的调查”
[The transmission of the Disciples in Hunan: A survey of Ming, Huang and Xing villages].
Available at http://www.rbw.org.cn/article.aspx?ty=uul&i=uNM&pg=23. Accessed July 9,
2010.
24 “Zuogong yixiang (san) 作工异象（三）” [The Vision of the work (3)], in Church of
Almighty God, 话在肉身显现, contents p. 4, item 17.
Eastern Lightning materials furnish us with scant biographical information

about the earthly identity of the Female Christ. They tell us that she is a virgin
and “looks exactly the same as a normal person.”25 The most extensive descrip-
tion of her upbringing likewise emphasizes its commonness: “Christ was born
in an ordinary family in the north [of China]. From childhood, she knew in her
heart that there is God. She gradually grew up as an ordinary person does.”26
This pedestrian life contrasts with biographies of other leaders of new religious
movements in contemporary China,27 but may appeal to Eastern Lightning’s
followers as they, too, are typically women from north China with an unexcep-
tional background. It may even lend credibility to the claim that the Female
Christ is the second incarnation of God, as the biblical prophet Isaiah foresaw
that Jesus would have “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.”28 In the Bible
the disciple Nathanael remarked “Nazareth! Can anything good come from
there?” when first presented with reports of Jesus Christ;29 one can likewise
envisage Chinese urbanites steeped in suzhi discourse wondering whether
anything divine could possibly come from an ordinary woman in the country’s
rural north. In this way, Eastern Lightning converts the humble social origins of
the Female Christ into symbolic capital. Moreover, it reassures followers that
‘ordinary women’ can in fact be extraordinary, and occupy a unique place in
God’s plan for human history.
Eastern Lightning’s “About Us” statement indicates that the Female Christ
converted to Protestantism in the late 1980s, when the religion was experienc-
ing exponential growth in northern China after government crackdowns on
unofficial congregations earlier that decade. In its words, “In 1989 just when
the Holy Spirit was working greatly in the house churches, Christ gave up her
studies and formally entered the house church.”30 This woman was not imme-
diately recognized as the Female Christ; people “merely regarded her as an
ordinary sister who received the revelation of the Holy Spirit.”31 The process
by which the Female Christ came to be worshipped as such is not recounted;
rather, the movement describes her advent as “hidden.”32 She does not make
25 Hard copy of Church of Almighty God, SLO, 85, 415, 467. See also “Knowledge about God’s
Present Work,” in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 3, item 44.
26 Church of Almighty God, About Us, 2.
27 “Brief Biography of Li Hongzhi: Founder of Falun Gong and President of the Falun Gong
Research Society,” Chinese Law and Government 32, no. 6 (1999): 16.
28 Isaiah 53:2.
29 John 1:46.
31 Ibid.
32 Thus, Eastern Lightning’s website bears the URL www.hidden-advent.org.
70 CHAPTER 3
public appearances, and only a small number of people are destined to recog-
nize her deity. While the Female Christ’s lack of public presence is interpreted
by detractors as secrecy, it is explained by Eastern Lightning as being necessi-
tated by the climate of religious persecution in China. An essay points out that
Jesus, too, behaved surreptitiously at times; Mary and Joseph fled with him to
Egypt to escape King Herod’s slaughter of male infants, and Christ occasionally
instructed witnesses not to tell of the miracles he performed.33
Since she does not appear publicly, a small number of Protestant sources
speculate that the Female Christ has either died, or never existed at all. They
suggest that no individual identified as the Female Christ has ever existed; she
is, rather, a fictitious creation that leader Zhao Weishan uses to attract and
manipulate followers.34 The majority of reports external to Eastern Lightning,
however, argue that such a woman does exist, but is rarely seen. They reason
that the religion would not have been able to achieve such popularity if no fol-
lowers had met her.35
A section of scripture written during the movement’s early years does indeed
reveal the voice of an underprivileged rural woman, lending weight to the view
that a woman identified as the Female Christ existed at least for a time:
When people saw me, they didn’t pay any attention to me because I
didn’t wear classy clothes and brought only my ‘ID card’ (身份证 shenfen
zheng) to ‘dine’ with them [author’s note: as opposed to a credit card?]. My
face was not plastered with expensive makeup, there was no flashy crown
on my head, and I wore only a pair of ordinary ‘homemade shoes’ on
my feet. What people found most disappointing was that I did not wear
33 “Question 21,” in Church of Almighty God, Questions and Answers. See also Matthew 2:13–
18, 8:4, 9:30.
34 For example, Tang Weimin (唐卫民). “Pouxi yiduan jiduan 剖析异端极端” [An analysis
of heresies and extremism] (河南基督教两会, 2008). Available at http://www.hnjdj.org/
article-1165788-1.html. Accessed July 7, 2009.
35 For example, Zhang Dakai (张大开), Pouxi xiejiao dongfang shandian 剖析邪教组织东
方闪电 [Given English title: An Analysis of the Eastern Lightning Cult]. Available at http://
www.chinaforjesus.com/resources/exel/contentsch.htm. Accessed May 9, 2006. Perhaps
the Female Christ spent a large amount of time with her followers in the movement’s
early days, but has become more reclusive as the group has incurred greater persecution.
The preface to one section of Eastern Lightning’s scripture states that it is comprised of
speeches given and essays written personally by the Female Christ during the time that
she “walked with the churches.” “Neirong jianjie 内容简介” [Overview], in Church of
Almighty God, 话在肉身显现.
lipstick and couldn’t make ‘polite conversation’ . . . so people took me for

a ‘country bumpkin’, ignorant and foolish.36
Assuming that she exists, what is the earthly identity of this female Christ?
Chinese Protestant sources previously reported that the object of Eastern
Lightning’s devotion was an unmarried woman with the surname Deng 邓
who lived near Zhengzhou in Henan.37 For its part, Eastern Lightning’s website
vehemently denied this, but did not supply an alternative identity for her:
the antichrists and wicked elements have dared to directly attack the flesh
of the Almighty God, and have committed the heinous sin of blasphemy.
They say “The Church of Almighty God believes in a woman surnamed
Deng from Zhengzhou, Henan, who was once possessed by a demon.”
This is pure fabrication. In fact, the place where God was born as flesh
and dwells isn’t in Henan province at all, and the surname is certainly not
Deng. The rumors concocted by these wicked elements don’t even come
close to the truth.38
The denial was quite possibly honest, as in late 2012, Chinese media began to
identify the Female Christ as Shanxi woman Yang Xiangbin 杨向彬 instead.
Reports from this time have stated that in 1991, Zhao Weishan was in the dol-
drums following the suppression of his fledgling new religious movement in
Heilongjiang. He fled to Henan, where he came across Yang (b.1973), who had
experienced a mental breakdown after failing her university entrance exami-
nation, and had been writing a religious text that she called ‘God’s Word.’ Zhao
recognized the potential that she and her writing held to attract followers, they
became lovers, and Zhao declared her to be the Female Christ in 1993.39
36 “Di sanshiyi pian shuohua 第三十一篇说话” [The thirty-first speech], in Church of
Almighty God, 话在肉身显现, contents p. 1, item 33. The passage is dated April 11, 1992.
37 For example, China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), “The Development and Beliefs
of the Eastern Lightning Cult.” Available at http://www.chinaforjesus.com/EL_develop
ment.htm. Accessed March 12, 2004.
38 “Dui di Jidu gongji Quannengshen Jiaohui de si da yaoyan de pouxi 对敌基督攻击全能
神教会的四大谣言的剖析” [Analyzing the four main rumors spread by the anitchrists
to attack the Church of Almighty God], in Church of Almighty God, Jiechuan di Jidu de
yaoyan miulun 揭穿敌基督的谣言谬论 [Exposing the Antichrist’s rumors and false-
hoods]. Formerly available at http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/fanbo/section1/0001.php.
Accessed August 14, 2010; now defunct.
39 Wang Zaihua (王在华), “Meiti cheng quannengshen jiaozhu taozhi Meiguo yaokong
zhihui xintu 媒体称全能神教主逃至美国遥控指挥信徒” [Media claim Almighty
72 CHAPTER 3
It is not clear why Chinese sources began to identify Yang Xiangbin only
in 2012, after Eastern Lightning had been banned for nearly two decades. It is
also curious that Eastern Lightning’s websites do not mention Yang Xiangbin,
particularly given their previous denial of the Ms. Deng rumor. The discrep-
ancy between reports that adherents worship a Ms. Deng and a Ms. Yang raises
the possibility that there is divergence between the beliefs of at least some
adherents in China. Persecution has necessitated secrecy and decentralization
in Eastern Lightning’s operations; this has frustrated efforts to preserve unity
and enabled alternative, unauthorized teachings to emerge and gain a foot-
hold in selected locales. Whatever the case, the fact that the Female Christ is
not named in Eastern Lightning texts suggests that her earthly identity is not
important for the movement. Surely, a large proportion of followers have never
met the Female Christ if indeed Ms. Yang fled to the USA with Zhao Weishan in
late 2000. The Female Christ therefore serves a largely symbolic purpose.
Moreover, while the figure of the Female Christ is undeniably central to
Eastern Lightning’s cosmology, God’s gender actually occupies a somewhat
ambiguous place in Eastern Lightning’s teachings. The female nature of God is
emphasized less in Eastern Lightning’s writings than exogenous commentar-
ies would lead one to believe. The Word Appears in the Flesh writes far more of
the ‘Almighty God’ than the ‘Female Christ,’ for example, and usually refers to
God in masculine terms. The Female Christ is never referred to as ‘mother’ in
scripture; instead, believers are described as the Almighty God’s children and
He as their Father. In early 2006, the English translation of Eastern Lightning
scripture temporarily used feminine pronouns (‘she’ and ‘her’) to refer to God,
but only sporadically; the Chinese text retained the masculine forms (他 ta).40
The Female Christ and the Almighty God are one, but in Eastern Lightning’s
literature, the female nature of God is eclipsed by the male.
God leader fled to America: Commands followers from afar]. Available at http://news.163
.com/12/1221/18/8J92TR1S0001124J_all.html. Accessed August 26, 2014; Wang Zaihua
(王在华), “Jiemi ‘Quannengshen’ xiejiao jiaozhu Zhao Weishan 揭秘 ‘全能神’ 邪教教
主赵维山” [Revealing Zhao Weishan, leader of ‘Almighty God’ cult]. Available at http://
news.cntv.cn/2012/12/21/ARTI1356082787384518_2.shtml. Accessed September 21, 2014;
Tian Liang (田亮), Li Jingtao (李静涛), and Huang Ying (黄滢), “Xiejiao jiaozhu zui’e
zhenxiang 邪教教主罪恶真相” [Cult leader’s true evil nature], 环球人物 16 (2014): 26.
40
“Dui shen xianshi zuogong de renshi 对神现时作工的认识” and “On Knowing
God’s Present Work.” Formerly available at http://holyspiritspeaks.org/shenhua/
section3a/0036b.php and http://english.hidden-advent.org/book/0013.php respectively.
These URLs are now defunct, and the English has reverted to using masculine pronouns;
see https://www.hidden-advent.org/en/books/45047.html. Accessed September 9, 2013.
The Female Christ’s Mission
Why has the Female Christ come to earth? To comprehend this, we need first
to understand Eastern Lightning’s teleology. Eastern Lightning maintains that
Almighty God’s interaction with humankind has been marked by three dispen-
sations. The first of these, the Age of Law (律法时代 lüfa shidai), corresponds
with the events of the Old Testament. Eastern Lightning adopts a chronol-
ogy that is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, and believes that the
events spanning the Age of Law (i.e. from the creation of the world to the birth
of Christ) occurred over a period of four thousand years. During this time, God
revealed himself as Yahweh, and his principal ‘work’ was to create the world,
lead the Israelites out of Egypt and give them his commandments.41
The birth of Jesus marked the end of the Age of Law and the beginning of
the Age of Grace (恩典时代 endian shidai), which covered events up until the
advent of the Female Christ. Jesus was compassionate and loving, and dur-
ing this time the divine mission was to die on the cross for the redemption
of humans. However, Eastern Lightning teaches that Jesus was “only a normal
man” until he began his ministry at the age of twenty-nine, three years prior
to his crucifixion.42 This doctrine is supported with reference to Matthew 3:16,
which records that immediately after Jesus’ baptism, “heaven was opened, and
he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.”43
While Luke 3:23 notes that Jesus was “about thirty years old when he began
his ministry,” the idea that he was not God up until this point conflicts with
conventional Christian teaching. Furthermore, Eastern Lightning teaches that
Jesus only partially completed the work of salvation. Although he offered him-
self as a sacrifice for sin, “men”44 continue to be “corrupted” (败坏 baihuai) by
Satan; while Jesus’ death enabled their sin to be forgiven, their sinful nature
remains fundamentally unaltered.45
It is for the transformation of this sinful nature that the Almighty God,
through the Female Christ, is working in the present Age of The Kingdom
41 “Lüfa shidai de gongzuo 律法时代的工作” [The work of the Age of Law], in Church of
Almighty God, 话在肉身显现, contents p. 4, item 41. “Yahweh” is the Hebrew proper
noun used in the Old Testament to refer to the God of Israel.
42 “The Mystery of the Incarnation (1),” in Church of Almighty God, SLO, 312; also available in
Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 4, item 22.
43 Ibid.
44 I use masculine language in this chapter as Eastern Lightning’s English texts do (although
they clearly intend their teachings to apply to women, too). Eastern Lightning’s Chinese
texts use “people” (人 ren).
45 “Question 28,” in Church of Almighty God, Questions and Answers.
74 CHAPTER 3
(国度时代 guodu shidai). Just as Jesus “did a newer work beyond the Old
Testament,”46 the Female Christ is today extending God’s New Testament
mission by “transforming people’s nature” (变化人的本性 bianhua ren de
benxing). This is also referred to as “the work of conquering” (征服的作工
zhengfu de zuogong) or “the work of perfecting” (成全的作工 chengquan de
zuogong).47 Despite appealing to the Bible to support its teachings, Eastern
Lightning claims that since the former does not prophesy the Female Christ’s
work in the present age, it is “outdated” and “aged and moldy” [sic].48
A corollary of this focus in the Female Christ’s ministry is that miraculous
phenomena occupy a relatively minor place in Eastern Lightning’s formal
teachings. Scripture states that the Female Christ does not perform healings,
exorcisms or other miracles because those acts belonged to the Age of Grace,
which has now passed:
In God incarnate this time, people cannot see with their physical eyes
any signs or wonders, such as healing the sick and driving out demons,
walking on the sea, fasting for forty days . . . She does not do the same
works as Jesus did, not because the substance of her flesh is different
from Jesus’, but because her ministry is not to heal the sick and drive out
demons . . . Healing the sick and driving out demons was the work done
in the Age of Grace and was the initial work of the redemptive work.
Since God has saved man from the cross, he will no longer do the work of
healing the sick and driving out demons . . . the principle of God’s work-
ing is that he never repeats the work he has accomplished.49
This is highly conspicuous in the Chinese religious context. The promise of

healing has been central to the popularity of most religious movements
in China;50 in particular, it is estimated that up to 90 percent of Protestants in
rural areas have converted to Christianity due to a personal encounter with
46 “The Vision of the Work (3),” in Church of Almighty God, SLO, 244. Newer translation
available in WAF, contents p. 4, item 17.
47 On conquering and perfecting, see “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work 1 & 3,” in
Church of Almighty God, SLO, 366–97; WAF, contents p. 4, items 28 and 30.
48 “A Statement About the Bible (1),” in Church of Almighty God, SLO, 269, 272. Rendered “old
[and] musty” in WAF, contents p. 4, item 18.
49 “The Substance of the ‘Flesh’ God Is In,” in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 4,
item 57.
50 Chau, Miraculous Response, 55; Madsen, “Signs and Wonders,” 17, 29.
faith healing.51 Leaders of other Protestant-related new religious movements

are also reported to hold out promises of healing and good fortune, and are
credited with performing miracles such as fasting for long periods. One pos-
sible explanation for the absence of healing promises in Eastern Lightning’s
literature is that its members have been previously disappointed in this area.
Eastern Lightning depicts other Protestant movements as ineffective in treat-
ing illness and bringing good fortune, and this may resonate with those who
converted to Christianity with these hopes, only to be frustrated.
However, Eastern Lightning’s teachings are inconsistent in regard to these
matters. An Eastern Lightning publication contains over one hundred testi-
monies from people who received judgment in the form of illness and other
misfortune, but many were healed after professing faith in the Almighty
God.52 This same publication provides testimonies concerning religious
visions, despite church papers elsewhere condemning visions as “the work of
an evil spirit.”53 Finally, in blatant contradiction to the block quotation above,
Protestants report that Eastern Lightning recruiters fake exorcisms in a bid to
demonstrate their spiritual power.54 While Eastern Lightning’s scripture does
not promise healing and exorcism, it is possible that some believers hold out
hope that the Almighty God will heal them in this Age of the Kingdom.
The teaching of three dispensations has no doubt been influenced by
Watchman Nee, who also taught of the dispensations of the Patriarchs
51 Claudia Währisch-Oblau, “Healing Prayers and Healing Testimonies in Mainland Chinese
Churches,” CSJ 14, no. 2 (1999): 5–21; Jason Kindopp, “Faith Healing (Christian),” in
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, ed. Edward L. Davis (London: Routledge,
2005).
52 Section 2 in Church of Almighty God, Shengling yindao ren guixiang quannengshen de
jianzheng 圣灵引导人归向全能神的见证 [Testimonies to the Holy Spirit’s guiding
people to turn to the Almighty God].
53 Ibid.; “Dui youguo xieling zuogong yu bei gui fu de ren ying qübie duidai 对有过邪灵
作工与被鬼附的人应区别对待” [Those who have been affected by an evil spirit and
those possessed by a ghost should be treated differently], in Church of Almighty God,
Guanyu jiaohui gongzuo de jiaotong jiangdao yu jiaohui gongzuo anpai linian huibian 关
于教会工作的交通讲道与教会工作安排历年汇编 [Compilation of plans and talks
concerning church work over the years; short title: 关于教会工作], vol. 1, contents p. 2,
item 44.
54 Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s Chinese”; Shang Qin (尚琴), “Women shou mihuo de
jingguo he jiaoxun: Jielu he pipan yiduan xiejiao ‘dongfang shandian’ 我们受迷惑的经
过和教训—揭露和批判异端邪教’东方闪电’ ” [How we were misled, and the les-
sons we have learned: Reavealing and critiquing the heretical cult “Eastern Lightning”].
Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/Christian%20Witness/jian-womenshou.htm. Accessed
July 13, 2010.
76 CHAPTER 3
(encompassing Adam to Moses), the Law (Moses to Christ), Grace (span-

ning the first and second comings of Christ) and the anticipated Age
of the Kingdom (from the second coming of Christ).55 Reports of other
new religious movements suggest that they, too, have adopted a tripartite
dispensationalism—the Three Grades of Servant, for example, are said to
teach of the era of the Holy Father (圣父时代 shengfu shidai), the Age of the
Holy Son (圣子时代 shengzi shidai), and the Charismatic Age (灵恩时代
ling’en shidai).56
The popularity of the three dispensations mirrors the Chinese Buddhist
division of history after the Buddha’s death into three ages. Related to this,
heterodox sects in late imperial China taught that a numinous representative
was dispatched to lead people back to the Eternal Mother during each of the
three eras. She had sent the Dipamkara (Lamp-lighting) Buddha in the past,
the Sakyamuni Buddha in the present, and would send the Buddha Maitreya
in the future.57 Maitreya was to come to the Eastern Land (東土 dong tu); the
Female Christ has also come to the East. The elements of the east, a female
deity, and three cosmic eras thus feature in the cosmologies of both Eastern
Lightning and Chinese sectarian traditions.
According to Eastern Lightning, the goal of God’s present “conquering work”
is not only to eliminate Satanic influence, but to make the believer “completely
obey God.”58 Good and evil are described in terms of one’s allegiance to the
Almighty God and, by extension, the Church. Thus, Eastern Lightning’s Ten
Commandments—which are described as “higher” than, while not abolishing,
those given to Moses59—pertain largely to submission to the church organiza-
tion. The seventh instructs that members should
55 Watchman Nee, How to Study the Bible (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1999),
108–9. This book is based on talks given by Nee in China in 1948–49. Lian Xi states that
Nee taught of three dispensations, and that this was derived from the dispensational-
ism of the Italian monk Joachim di Fiore in the twelfth century. Lian Xi, “The Search for
Chinese Christianity in the Republican Period (1912–1949),” Modern Asian Studies 38, no. 4
(2004): 885. Witness Lee spoke of three eras spanning two thousand years each: from
Adam to Abraham, Abraham to Christ, and Christ to today. Witness Lee, “The Organic
Union in God’s Relationship with Man.” Available at http://www.ministrybooks.org/
books.cfm?xid=292TTVZG67K9J.
56 Zhuo Xuan (卓軒), “Kuxiu dejiu de ‘sanban puren’ 哭修得救的《三班仆人》,” 109.
57 Naquin, Millenarian Rebellion, 9; Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion, 139; Li Shiyu (李世瑜),
Xiandai huabei mimi zongjiao 现代华北秘密宗教 [Secret religious societies in modern
North China] (上海: 上海文艺出版社, 1990 [1949]), 32–34.
58 “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (3),” in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents
p. 4, item 30.
59 “The Vision of the Work (1),” in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 4, item 15.
take orders from the man used by the Holy Spirit in everything and should
not disobey any of them but should obey them absolutely. Do not analyze
whether they are right or wrong. Whether they are right or wrong has
nothing to do with you. You should just obey them absolutely.60
The absence of a broader ethical code in Eastern Lightning’s literature is a strik-

ing difference from the precious scrolls and morality books of folk religious
sects in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and also to the teachings of recent reli-
gious movements such as Falun Gong.61 Perhaps, despite Eastern Lightning’s
indisputable hostility to the Chinese Communist Party, its construction of
morality as centered on loyalty and obedience has been influenced by the
personality cult surrounding Mao Zedong, the quasi-religious nature of which
was noted in the 1960s by renowned sociologist C.K. Yang.62 Given that most
Eastern Lightning adherents are middle-aged or elderly, the Maoist mass
political campaigns are within living memory for many of them. Where they
danced loyalty dances to Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution, they
now dance to the Almighty God.63
Eastern Lightning also resembles Maoism in its concern with transforming
the individual. In 1957, Mao stated that “Socialist transformation is a twofold
task, one is to transform the system and the other to transform man.”64 And
in 1966, “The purpose of the Great Cultural Revolution in the schools is to
carry out struggle, criticism, transformation.”65 Eastern Lightning also teaches
that personal transformation comes through struggle, albeit a different kind
of struggle to that conceived of by the CCP. In Eastern Lightning’s texts, one
60 “Ten Administrative Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Obey,” in Church of Almighty
God, WAF, contents p. 4, item 63. For “the man used by the Holy Spirit,” see p. 49 of this
book: probably Zhao Weishan.
61 David Ownby, “Falungong as a Cultural Revitalization Movement: An Historian Looks
at Contemporary China.” Available at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~tnchina/commentary/
ownby1000.html. Accessed June 5, 2004.
62 Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, 381–86. Also Dittmer and Chen, Rhetoric of the Chinese
Cultural Revolution, 37.
63 Xing Lu, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought,
Culture and Communication (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004), 133–34.
64 Mao Zedong, “Beat Back the Attacks of the Bourgeois Rightists (July 9, 1957).” Available
at http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_65
.htm. Accessed June 16, 2013.
65 Mao Zedong, “Speech at a Meeting with Regional Secretaries and Members of the Cultural
Revolutionary Group of the Central Committee (July 22, 1966).” Available at http://www
.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-9/mswv9_59.htm.
Accessed July 16, 2013.
78 CHAPTER 3
can have one’s nature transformed and be ‘perfected’ by God only through
overcoming ‘trials and tribulations’, which the Bible teaches precede the
apocalypse and the coming of the new heaven and new earth. ‘Trials’ can
refer to anything that may cause the believer to waver in their faith, or even
renounce it. In some cases, the tribulations are relatively benign: maintain-
ing belief in a Female Christ who appears so ‘normal,’ for example.66 However,
Eastern Lightning sources most frequently identify the term ‘great tribulation’
(大患难 da huannan) with the government crackdowns and social rejection
experienced by its adherents.67 For example, from around 2004, the principal
concern of a handbook chapter entitled “Twelve Instructions for the Time of
Trial” was to equip readers with techniques for evading public security agents.68
In this way, the Church of Almighty God internalizes present hardships
by construing them as confirmation of God’s end-time plans for individu-
als, the Church and the world. Individuals are encouraged to reason that the
Female Christ, like Jesus Christ, has suffered on this earth at the hands of a
repressive regime and religious detractors, and so they must likewise be pre-
pared to sacrifice all for the sake of the Word. Teachings about earthly assays
bestow value upon them by depicting them as tools used by the Almighty God
to perfect the elect; a ‘refiner’s fire’ in which to forge the saints (圣人 shengren)
who will reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom. Thus, the costs of perse-
cution and suffering are not only neutralized, but regarded as having positive
effects:
The greater refining people undergo, the greater suffering they undergo,
and the more torments they undergo, the deeper true love they will have
for God, the more true faith they will have in God, and the deeper knowl-
edge they will have of God.69
66 “Knowledge about God’s Present Work,” in Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 3,
item 44.
67 This usage is broadly consistent with that of Revelation 7:14, which refers to the persecu-
tion of the church.
68 Church of Almighty God, Quannengshen jiaohuide xingzheng, gongzuo anpai yu jiaohui
dailing shifeng shen de yuanze 全能神教会的行政、工作安排与教会带领侍奉神的
原则 [Principles for the administration of the Church of Almighty God, work plans and
church leaders serving God]. This document instructed that adherents should meet only
in very small groups, be wary of new believers and those who have been recently arrested
lest they inform on the organization, and that group leaders should flee their homes.
69 “All Those to Be Perfected Have to Undergo Refining,” in Church of Almighty God, WAF,
contents p. 4, item 2.
Here, Eastern Lightning echoes the apostle Paul’s reflection that “we . . . glory
in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, per-
severance, character; and character, hope.”70 The development of a culture of
martyrdom in the wake of repression is also shared by many religious move-
ments in contemporary China. A scripture from the Association of Disciples
extols leader Ji Sanbao in the following terms: “He endures attacks from out
siders, meets with persecution from Pharaohs and rejection from his own
family and friends . . . He has tasted sweetness and bitterness, experienced a
thousand trials.”71 Falun Gong has emphasized the principle of forbearance
(忍 ren) as it resists authorities and sees persecution as a ‘test’ (考验 kaoyan);72
martyrdom also shapes Chinese Catholic and Protestant communities.73
What makes Eastern Lightning exceptional is the degree to which it pre-
scribes self-sacrifice. Scripture goes so far as to state that “Before people are
refined to the extent that they are half dead and have tasted death, the refining
will not end . . . People will all have to be refined to that extent, without any
hope or support.”74 It is also significant that Eastern Lightning’s writings were
not always so morose. The quotation above contrasts with the optimistic excla-
mations that permeated the first writings of 1991, as represented at the opening
of this chapter. Despite appearing towards the front of Chinese versions of The
Word Appeared in the Flesh, these earlier writings are omitted from recently
translated English versions. This suggests that the leadership of the move-
ment is now emphasizing the more somber tone of the Female Christ’s later
pronouncements, and that repression at the hands of political and religious
opponents has engendered the radicalization of Eastern Lightning’s teachings.
These teachings foster a boldness and dedication that is feared by Protestants
and government organs alike.
70 Romans 5:3–4.

71 Excerpt given in Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 32. The
Association of Disciples uses the term “Pharaohs” (法老 Falao) to refer to political lead-
ers, recalling the Israelites’ oppression at the hands of the Egyptian kings in the book of
Exodus.
72 Gareth Fisher, “Resistance and Salvation in Falun Gong: The Promise and Peril of
Forbearance,” Nova Religio 6, no. 2 (2003): passim; Penny, The Religion of Falun Gong, 135.
73 Richard Madsen, “Catholic Conflict and Cooperation in the People’s Republic of China,” in
God and Caesar in China: Policy Implications of Church-State Tensions, ed. Jason Kindopp
and Carol Lee Hamrin (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), 99; Lambert,
China’s Christian Millions, 209.
74 “All Those to Be Perfected Have to Undergo Refining,” in Church of Almighty God, WAF,
80 CHAPTER 3
Punishment and Retribution
Eastern Lightning teaches that the events used to perfect or refine the believer
can also serve as a form of ultimate judgment for the unbeliever and the person
purged from Eastern Lightning. Revelation tells that the Devil will ultimately
be defeated, and the dead will be raised to receive judgment before God, who
will be seated upon a white throne. Those whose names are not written in the
Book of Life will be thrown into a lake of fire; the others will dwell with God
in a new heaven and a new earth.75 Eastern Lightning’s “About Us” statement
proclaims that “The judgment of the great white throne has finally begun,”76
and that
To the evil ones among all mankind, he [the Almighty God] is burning,
judgment, and punishment; to those to be perfected, he is tribulation,
refining, trial . . . to the eliminated ones, he is punishment and retribution
(报应 baoying).77
The misfortunes of unbelievers are vividly portrayed as God’s righteous retri-

bution in an anthology of anecdotes intended to persuade prospective recruits
to join the movement. The front cover of the book Typical Cases of Leaders in
Catholicism and Christianity in Mainland China Who Resist Almighty God Being
Punished graphically depicts the fate that is to befall those who reject Eastern
Lightning’s teachings (Figure 3).78
The robed people in the illustration represent clergy of the official church
(TSPM), and the plain-clothed figures members of house churches. The clergy-
man second from the left has the head of a wolf, evoking the phrase ‘a wolf
in sheep’s clothing’ (披着羊皮的狼 pizhe yangpi de lang), which is used by
assorted Protestant factions and new religious movements to denigrate each
other. In the foreground, a second wolf gnaws on the leg of a man lying face
down, perhaps symbolizing this infighting.79
75 Revelation 20–21.

77 “The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of Incarnation,” in Church of Almighty
God, SLO, 344. Different translation available in WAF, contents p. 4, item 26.
78 Front cover, Church of Almighty God, Jidujiao gezong gepai didang quannengshen shou
chengfa de dianxing shili 基督教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型事例 [Typical
cases of punishment for resisting the Almighty God; short title: 受惩罚] (hard copy,
2002).
79 The phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” originates from Matthew 7:15: “Watch out for false
prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
figure 3 Cover, Typical Cases of Leaders in Catholicism and Christianity in Mainland

China Who Resist Almighty God Being Punished (2002).
Lightning strikes from the heavens. The traditional Chinese character mean-
ing ‘word’ (話 hua) is emblazoned throughout the picture—the phrase ‘God’s
word’ (神的话 shen de hua) is used by both Protestants and new religious
movements to denote the Bible and/or their own scripture. The shining sword
on the book’s cover also represents ‘God’s word.’ In the Bible, Paul instructs
82 CHAPTER 3
the Ephesians to take up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”
that they might guard themselves against “the devil’s schemes.”80 The sword
and the ‘word’ are depicted as causing anguish, even death, to those beneath
it, illustrating the power of the Almighty God’s revelation and judgment.
Cracks in the earth and flames in the background additionally reflect Eastern
Lightning’s apocalypticism.
The text that lies beyond this illustration records the experiences of 887
Chinese Christians between the years of 1995 and 2002 whose illness or acci-
dent, often fatal, is interpreted as being God’s judgment upon them for reject-
ing Eastern Lightning.81 The number 888 is considered auspicious in China;
the fact that the number of anecdotes in this collection falls one short of this
is probably intended to highlight the misfortune of the book’s subjects to its
readers. The reporting of each case assumes a uniform structure. First, the prov-
ince, surname, previous denomination, and usually age and sex of the subject
are given. It is then recounted that a friend, relative and/or previously unknown
evangelist made unsuccessful attempts to recruit them to Eastern Lightning.
The subject is then struck down with accident or illness days, months or even
years after their rejection of Eastern Lightning. Accidents occur in traffic or
in the course of home repairs; the litany of diseases mentioned includes all
sorts of cancer, stroke, emphysema, paralysis, diabetes and insanity. The grisly
tale of a thirty-eight-year-old woman from Henan province is typical of these
vignettes, and reads as follows:
In 1998, people told [a believer surnamed Sun] about God’s work in the
end times on multiple occasions, but she rejected it and went around
spreading rumors and hindering others from accepting the True Way
[真道 zhen dao]. When someone preached God’s end-time work to her
once more, she hurled abuse, saying: “. . . God will surely punish you
in days to come! You believe in an evil spirit, a false Christ, Satan, the
devil, a heretic, a deceiver” . . . On the night of December 2, 1999, at about
9 p.m., Sun was returning home from Changge on the back of a pedicab
[三轮车 san lun che] driven by her husband. When they were travelling
through Yuzhou, she was hooked by a big oncoming vehicle and dragged
away. When her husband finally found her, all that remained was internal
80 Ephesians 6:10–17.

81 Church of Almighty God, 受惩罚. Abridged English version: Church of Almighty God,
Typical Cases of Punishment for Resisting the Almighty God.
organs and bits of flesh scattered everywhere. The devil finally met with
a curse!82
In light of the anecdotes’ standardized narrative structure and their intended

function of demonstrating that Eastern Lightning’s God is indeed almighty, it
is unsurprising to read that an editorial committee has vetted them:
because the people who provided each case came from different areas
and their level of education (文化程度 wenhua chengdu) also varied, we
proofread, straightened them out and verified them several times over,
completing the book only after going to a lot of trouble. Owing to the
difficulty of the investigative work, there may be errors in one or two of
the cases; if this is so, please excuse them. We have published in such a
hurry in order to present these cases to you as quickly and accurately as
possible.83
Given the editorial intervention in these tales, their significance for Chinese
religion is not to be found in their factuality or their proof of the religion for
which they contend. Rather, they are of interest because they demonstrate
continuity in the kind of experiences reported by members of religious move-
ments in China, and the literature they generate and view as persuasive. Popular
religious sects attributed illness and misfortune to immorality as early as the
Han dynasty.84 Anecdotes of divine retribution were collected in Hong Mai’s
(1123–1202) Record of the Listener (夷堅志 Yijian zhi), and from the mid-Ming,
the theme of karmic retribution (报应 baoying) pervaded sectarian scripture
texts.85 This tradition is alive and well in contemporary China. People continue
to profess belief in retribution, and tales of it circulate among a wide variety of
religious groups, including popular religion, Falun Gong and Protestantism.86
82 Case number 69, “Henan” chapter, in Church of Almighty God, 受惩罚.
83 “Xie zai qianmian de hua 写在前面的话” [Preface], in ibid.
84 Seiwert, Popular Religious Movements, 38–39, 47–50, 468–69; Yang, Religion in Chinese
Society, 57; David Ownby, “Imperial Fantasies: The Chinese Communists and Peasant
Rebellions,” Comparative Studies in Society & History 43, no. 1 (2001): 79–80.
85 Alister D. Inglis, Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener and Its Song Dynasty Context (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 2006); Daniel L. Overmyer, “Alternatives: Popular
Religious Sects in Chinese Society,” Modern China 7, no. 2 (1981): 159; Fisher, “Morality
Books,” 55–56.
86 Goossaert and Palmer, Religious Question in Modern China, 274–75; Chau, Miraculous
Response, 241; Benjamin Penny, “Animal Spirits, Karmic Retribution, Falungong, and the
State,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity and State Formation, ed. Mayfair
84 CHAPTER 3
Even the Chinese government appeared to use this template when it published
case studies of Falun Gong practitioners who had died as a result of mental
illness or rejecting medical treatment.87 While government organs would not
have evoked any religious paradigm intentionally, it is consistent with religious
genres of exhortation and warning, and demonstrates that Eastern Lightning’s
texts marshal themes, discourses and beliefs that are deeply embedded across
many sectors of contemporary Chinese society.
The Female Christ and Chinese Religious Traditions
Furthermore, the cover illustration of Eastern Lightning’s book (Figure 3)—

and the teachings of the movement—suggest that a particular mythological
articulation of ideas about misfortune and retribution have shaped the group.
Chinese classics such as the first century Lunheng (论衡), fourth century
Records of Searching for Spirits (搜神記 Soushen ji), twelfth century Record
of the Listener, and miscellaneous Qing dynasty biji (筆記 jottings), depicted
deaths by lightning as retribution for sin.88 In Chinese Daoist and popular
religious traditions this lightning is believed to be emitted by the Mother of
Lightning (电母 Dian mu), who punishes evil alongside her husband, the
Thunder God (雷公 Lei gong).
The lightning goddess evolved into being. The Book of Changes identified
lighting as being of the female (阴 yin) element. The Thunder God split into
Thunder God and Lightning Father (电父 Dian fu) around the Han dynasty,
and the latter then developed into the female form and adopted a new name
by the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE).89 In the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 CE), she
Mei-Hui Yang (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 149–54; Kindopp, “Politics
of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 449; Danyun, Lilies amongst Thorns, trans.
Brother Dennis (Kent, UK: Sovereign World, 1991), 191.
87 Ownby, Falun Gong and the Future of China, 176–77.
88 Henri Doré, Researches into Chinese Superstitions, trans. D.J. Finn S.J., vol. 10 (Shanghai:
T’usewei, 1933), 7; Henri Doré, Researches into Chinese Superstitions, trans. D.J. Finn S.J.,
vol. 9 (Shanghai: T’usewei, 1931), 182; Inglis, Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener and Its Song
Dynasty Context, 27; Charles E. Hammond, “Waiting for a Thunderbolt,” Asian Folklore
Studies 51 (1992).
89 Guo Wu (郭武), “Dian mu 电母,” [The lightning goddess] in 中国原始宗教百科全
书, ed. Editorial Committee of the Encyclopedia of Primeval Chinese Religions (《中国
原始宗教百科全书》编纂委员会) (成都︰四川辞书出版社, 2003). Liu Yahu (刘亚
湖), “Dian mu 电母” [The goddess of lightning], in 中国民间信仰风俗词典, ed. Wang
Jinglin (王景林) and Xu Tao (徐匋) (北京︰中国文联出版公司, 1997).
appeared on military flags and was depicted among a cornucopia of gods

on the murals in the fourteenth-century Yongle Palace in Shanxi province.90
Veneration of the Mother of Lightning has continued in modern China, and
today she and the Thunder God remain popular, worshipped in numerous
temples for protecting agriculture and punishing evil.91
No existing commentary on Eastern Lightning, Chinese or Western, men-
tions the Mother of Lightning as a possible source of inspiration for the move-
ment. However, the commonalities in these goddesses’ names and activities
suggest more than an accidental relationship. They also explain why the
Female Christ is so different from the most popular Chinese goddesses. Two
goddesses stand out as particularly significant in the history of Chinese reli-
gion. From the Han dynasty, the Queen Mother of the West (西王母 Xi wang
mu) was an object of veneration in the Daoist pantheon. She bestowed pros-
perity and immortality, and was patron to Daoist women. Subsequently incar-
nated as the Eternal Mother, she was also the supreme deity of heterodox sects
in the late Ming dynasty.92 Second, the bodhisattva Guanyin 观音 was, like the
Female Christ, of male gender in her culture of origin, but underwent a meta-
morphosis in China around the twelfth century.
Both of these Chinese goddesses have interacted with Christian-related reli-
gions, notably influencing Chinese Catholics’ adoration of the Virgin Mary.93
Jeremy Clarke has shown the influence to be mutual: Catholic images of Mary
disseminated by Franciscan missionaries in the late thirteenth and early four-
teenth centuries also shaped depictions of Guanyin.94 In the Protestant sphere,
90 Liu Yahu (刘亚湖), “Dian mu 电母”; Shi Hongyun (史宏云) and Chen Sisi (陈思思),
“Yongle gong ‘chaoyuan tu’ nüxing tuxiang yishu tezheng tanjiu 永乐宫《朝元图》
女性图像艺术特征探究” [Research on the artistic characteristics of female images in
Chao Yun Triptych of the Yongle palace murals], 山西档案 3 (2013): 15.
91 Doré, Researches into Chinese Superstitions, vol. 10, 7; Doré, Researches into Chinese
Superstitions, vol. 9, 182; Bin Li (斌礼), “Leigong yu dianmu 雷公与电母” [The God of
Thunder and Goddess of Lightning], 民间传奇故事(A卷) 5 (2009); Editorial Committee
of the Dictionary of Chinese Nationalities’ Myths and Religions (《中国各民族宗教与神
化大辞典》编审委员会), Zhongguo ge minzu zongjiao yu shenhua da cidian 中国各民
族宗教与神化大辞典 [Dictionary of Chinese nationalities’ myths and religions] (北京:
学苑出版社, 1990), 237.
92 Naquin, Millenarian Rebellion, 9; Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion, 139.
94 Jeremy Clarke SJ, The Virgin Mary and Catholic Identities in Chinese History (Hong Kong:
Hong Kong University Press, 2013), 24–31.
86 CHAPTER 3
sects formed around a syncretic ‘Mother-God’ in the Republic of China.95 An

offshoot of the True Jesus Church called The Church of the Heavenly Mother
(天母會 Tianmu hui), for example, was “led by a woman who was apparently
trying to fashion a Christian variant of the millenarian White Lotus belief in
the Mother of No-Birth [i.e., Wusheng laomu].”96
Chinese goddesses such as Guanyin, the Eternal Mother and even Mary are
depicted as compassionate and merciful, offering salvation and protection.97
As mothers, Chinese women implore them to intercede in matters of marriage,
fertility, and bearing sons.98 In contrast, the Female Christ is a much harsher
figure, and concerns surrounding fertility and childbearing are entirely absent
from Eastern Lightning’s scripture and discussion of the movement.
The chief characteristic that Eastern Lightning’s Female Christ shares with
Chinese goddesses other than the Mother of Lightning is the ability to “keep
one safe and sound” (保平安 bao ping’an).99 As Chen-Yang Kao has illus-
trated, concern with “misfortune management” came to the fore in Chinese
Protestantism during the Cultural Revolution. The “indigenous expecta-
tion” that an efficacious god would keep disaster at bay gained prominence,
as people experienced insecurity around such issues as their political status
and physical safety.100 Similarly, avoiding the accident and illness relayed in
Eastern Lightning’s anecdotes is attractive to recruits because they tend to
belong to a particularly vulnerable demographic. Rural residents often lack
95 Lian Xi, “Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China,” 426; Hunter and Chan,
Protestantism in Contemporary China, 132.
96 Lian Xi, “Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China,” 426.
97 Richard Madsen, “Chinese Christianity: Indigenization and Conflict,” in Chinese
Society: Conflict, Change and Resistance, ed. Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden, Asia’s
Transformations (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003), 277–78; Richard Madsen, China’s
Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1998), 88–90; Clarke SJ, Virgin Mary and Catholic Identities in Chinese History, 83–89;
Li Congna (李从娜), “Shengtai nüxingzhuyi shijiaoxia de jindai nüshen xinyang 生态女
性主义视角下的近代女神信仰” [An ecological feminist perspective on the worship of
goddesses in modern times], 民俗研究 2 (2013): 40.
98 Li Congna (李从娜), “Shengtai nüxingzhuyi shijiaoxia de jindai nüshen xinyang 生态
女性主义视角下的近代女神信仰,” 40; Steven Sangren, “Female Gender in Chinese
Religious Symbols: Kuan Yin, Ma Tsu, and the ‘Eternal Mother,’ ” Signs: Journal of Women
in Culture and Society 9, no. 1 (1983): 14.
99 Li Congna (李从娜), “Shengtai nüxingzhuyi shijiaoxia de jindai nüshen xinyang 生态女
性主义视角下的近代女神信仰,” 40.
100
Chen-Yang Kao, “The Cultural Revolution and the Emergence of Pentecostal-style
Protestantism in China,” Journal of Contemporary Religion 24, no. 2 (2009): 172.
access to affordable medical treatment;101 Eastern Lightning’s testimonies

reflect this concern as they often mention the high cost of medical treatment
incurred by their subjects because of their obstinate rejection of God.102 The
representation of the Female Christ as meting out judgment in the form of
misfortune instead of being a maternal figure lends weight to the hypothesis
that the she draws primarily on the tradition of the lightning goddess, rather
than other deities.
Chinese accounts of the Female Christ also bear evidence of interaction
with previous religious movements. According to Chinese sources, the woman
identified as the Female Christ attempted and failed the university entrance
examination (高考 gaokao) when she was approximately thirty years old.
She then suffered a mental breakdown (Protestant sources add that this was
a result of demon-possession). In search of healing, Deng/Yang converted first
to Christianity and then to the Shouters.103 Finally, she claimed that the Holy
Spirit was at work in her, and penned a section of scripture about how she
was ‘God.’104
The reported experience of the Female Christ bears a compelling resem-
blance to the biography of Hong Xiuquan, founder of the God-Worshippers
Society and leader of the Taiping Rebellion. Born to a peasant family in 1814,
Hong failed the imperial examinations on all four of his attempts. He read
several Christian tracts and then fell ill, whereupon he received the religious
visions that convinced him of his divinity and inspired a religious-fuelled
peasant uprising that was to jeopardize the Qing dynasty.105 Protestant
reports of the Female Christ’s academic failure, conversion to Protestantism,
illness and visions echo this tale, now one hundred and fifty years old. Such
reports never mention the Taipings, and the comparison they evoke may
101 Qi Cao et al., “Report from China: Health Insurance in China; Evolution, Current Status,
and Challenges,” International Journal of Health Services 42, no. 2 (2012).
102 For example, case number 9, “Henan” chapter, in Church of Almighty God, 受惩罚.
103 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), “The Development and Beliefs of the Eastern
Lightning Cult"; Wang Zaihua (王在华), “Meiti cheng quannengshen jiaozhu taozhi
Meiguo yaokong zhihui xintu 媒体称全能神教主逃至美国遥控指挥信徒.”
104 Zhang Dakai (张大开), Pouxi xiejiao zuzhi dongfang shandian 剖析邪教组织东方闪
电. These sources are consistent with Eastern Lightning’s account to the extent that the
Female Christ “dropped out of school” before joining a house church, but differ in their
additional report of mental illness and demonic possession. See Church of Almighty God,
About Us, 2.
105 All accounts of the Taipings relate this information; see, for example, Jonathan D. Spence,
God’s Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan, 1st ed. (New York:
Norton, 1996), 46–50ff.
88 CHAPTER 3
well be unintentional. There are also differences in the lives of Hong Xiuquan
and the Female Christ—to begin with, the former is from southern China and
the latter from the north. Nevertheless, the parallels raise the possibility that
the story of Hong Xiuquan is so inscribed upon the popular imagination as to
leave a residual template for describing and condemning those who espouse
heterodox interpretations of Protestantism.
Additional resonance between Eastern Lightning’s Female Christ and the
Taipings lies in the God-Worshippers’ Society’s teaching of a Heavenly Mother
(天母 Tian mu). An old woman, she appeared to Hong Xiuquan in a vision in
1837, cleansing him of the earth’s filth in preparation for meeting his heavenly
father. She was not a focus of devotion, and was mentioned only a few times in
Taiping texts.106 Yet it is intriguing that the Taipings supported their teaching
of the Heavenly Mother with reference to the same Bible verse which Eastern
Lightning now uses to defend its teaching of a Female Christ. Joseph Edkins,
a Protestant missionary who visited Hong Xiuquan in 1860, recorded that on
the basis of Genesis 1:27, Hong “pleaded for the offensive and blasphemous
notion that there is therefore in heaven a female divinity, corresponding to Eve
in paradise.”107
The biography of the Female Christ also resonates with the Chinese tra-
dition of spirit possession. Indeed, the term Eastern Lightning uses to refer
to God ‘descending’ to earth (降 jiang) is customarily also used to describe
a spirit ‘descending’ into a shaman.108 In Chinese tradition, it is common
for an ordinary woman to fall ill and experience healing prior to becoming a
shaman. Initially, there is often some debate among her peers as to whether
her altered affect is a result of spirit possession, or of mental illness.109 These
106 Michael, Taiping Rebellion, 54. Later, the Heavenly Mother brought Hong fruit and helped
him to fight (ibid., 59). She was depicted in Taiping texts as residing in heaven with the
Heavenly Father (ibid., 602–3).
107 Rev. Joseph Edkins, “Narrative of a Visit to Nanking,” in Chinese Scenes and People: With
Notices of Christian Missions and Missionary Life in a Series of Letters from Various Parts
of China, ed. Jane R. Edkins (London: James Nisbet and Co., 1863), 290. Edkins lamented
that he was unable to dissuade Hong from propagating this interpretation of Genesis 1:27.
Genesis was the only book of the Old Testament that Hong annotated, but he did not
comment on this verse in the notes reproduced in Michael, The Taiping Rebellion, 225.
108 Catherine Despeux, “Women in Daoism,” in Daoism Handbook, vol. 1, ed. Livia Kohn
(Boston: Brill, 2000), 403–4.
109 Margery Wolf, “The Woman Who Didn’t Become a Shaman,” American Ethnologist 17,
no. 3 (1990); Anagnost, “Politics and Magic in Contemporary China,” 52; Fan Lizhu, “The
Cult of the Silkworm Mother as a Core of Local Community Religion in a North China
Village: Field Study in Zhiwuying, Baoding, Hebei,” China Quarterly 174 (2003); Tung
differing responses are mirrored by Eastern Lightning’s worship of the woman

as Christ, and Protestants’ dismissal of her as insane. Description of the female
Christ as writing under the influence of God’s spirit is further congruent with
the shamanic practice of spirit-writing (扶乩 fuji), which remains an impor-
tant means by which popular religious scriptures are created today.110 It seems
likely that preexisting religious traditions have contributed both to adherents’
acceptance of Eastern Lightning, and others’ descriptions of it.
A popular Western audience might interpret Eastern Lightning’s worship of
a Female Christ as a feminist theology. Yet although women comprise approxi-
mately three quarters of the Chinese Protestant population and occupy posi-
tions of leadership in both official and unofficial churches, feminist theologies
have only marginally influenced Chinese Protestantism, particularly in the
rural areas where Eastern Lightning has been most successful.111 Eastern
Lightning’s teaching of a Female Christ is more likely to have been nurtured by
Chinese religious traditions, in which female deities are prominent. Reference
to these traditions has enabled us to appreciate their legacy. It has also enabled
us view the Female Christ from a vantage point closer to that of Chinese believ-
ers and consequently, to understand why her existence is credible—even
attractive—to them.
When Prophecy Fails: Eastern Lightning’s Vision of the Future and

the Timing of the Eschaton
Revelation 5–8:5 foretells that the second coming of Christ will open the seven
seals of a covenant scroll and in so doing unleash a series of woes upon the
earth, including war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes and fire; together, these
are referred to as the “hour of trial” (患难时期 huannan shiqi).112 Eastern
Lightning teaches that this scroll is the Female Christ’s scripture and that she
Sen-yong, “Shamans from Orchid Island: Their Encounter with Christian Faith,” in
Shamanism and Christianity: Religious Encounters Among Indigenous Peoples of East Asia,
ed. Olivier Lardinois and Benoit Vermander (Taipei: Taipei Ricci Institute, 2008), 127–28.
110 Graeme Lang and Lars Ragvald, “Spirit-Writing and the Development of Chinese
Cults,” Sociology of Religion 59, no. 4 (1998): 314. Indeed, there is precedent for Jesus
appearing in the spirit-writing of popular religious sects in the republican era. Clart,
“Jesus in Chinese Popular Sects,” 1317; Li Shiyu (李世瑜), Xiandai huabei mimi zongjiao
现代华北秘密宗教, 44.
111 For an overview of feminist theology and the TSPM, see Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Feminist
Theology and the Chinese Church,” CTR 15 (2000): 40–44.
112 For “hour of trial,” see Revelation 3:10.
90 CHAPTER 3
has unfurled it; the movement’s 2006 English translation of scriptural excerpts
is titled The Scroll that the Lamb Opened. Accordingly, Eastern Lightning pos-
its that all manner of disaster has intensified in recent years, and that these
testify to the imminence of the eschaton. Floods, droughts, wars and epidem-
ics of Mad Cow Disease, AIDS, SARS and avian influenza are all interpreted as
having “exactly fulfilled” the biblical prophecy that in the “end times,” “Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines
and earthquakes in various places.”113 This is consistent not only with biblical
prophecy and millenarian movements the world over, but also Chinese sects
that have believed that disasters of water, wind and fire are to come at the end
of every cosmic cycle.
Eastern Lightning teaches that the present disasters are among the trials
and tribulations God uses to refine and transform members, and which they
must overcome. As one believer reflects, “God wants to mould us through this
kind of pain, persecution and trials. This is God’s purpose, and is the necessary
route to perfecting man.”114 Once ‘transformed’ by the Female Christ, adher-
ents will obtain immortality:
As we know, ‘death’ came through sin; because men had sins, death came
to them. (cf. Romans 5:12) So, when men’s sinful nature is taken away and
they become holy, death will not come to them, and they will become
‘holy bodies,’ and become living men with a spirit. This work of trans-
forming and purifying men is exactly the work of judging and purifying
that Almighty God does in the end time with the word.115
Conversely, without submitting to the Female Christ’s efforts to ‘perfect’ man,

people will retain their sinful nature and consequently die.116
Accordingly, heaven (天堂 tiantang) and hell (地狱 diyu) are seldom men-
tioned in Eastern Lightning literature; the latter appears only forty-five times
113 “Question 11,” in Church of Almighty God, Questions and Answers. See also Matthew 24:7.
114 “57: Qishi lu zhong yuyan de yingyan 启示录中预言的应验” [57: The Fulfillment of
Prophecies in Revelation], in Church of Almighty God, Jiechuan di Jidu de yaoyan miulun
揭穿敌基督的谣言谬论 [Exposing the Antichrist’s rumors and falsehoods]. Formerly
available at http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/fanbo/section1/0057.php. Accessed August
16, 2010; now defunct.
115 “Question 7,” in Church of Almighty God, Questions and Answers. Romans 5:12 states that
“sin entered the world through one man [i.e.: Adam in the Garden of Eden], and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
116 “A Talk About ‘The Millennial Kingdom Has Come,’ ” in Church of Almighty God, WAF,
in the 1231 pages of The Word Appears in the Flesh,117 and little characteriza-
tion of it is given. Rather, the focal point of Eastern Lightning’s eschatologi-
cal vision is the advent of a Millennial Kingdom (千年国度 qiannian guodu)
on earth. Eastern Lightning’s vision of this kingdom is loosely based on that
presented in Revelation, which tells that Satan will be bound while the saints
reign with Christ for one thousand years.118 Numerous hymns express jubila-
tion that the “new heaven and new earth” have arrived, but Eastern Lightning’s
texts refer to the Millennial Kingdom as some time off, without specifying a
date for its arrival.119
Amidst their preoccupation with containing Falun Gong at the turn of the
millennium, public security officials in north-east China expressed private
concerns that Eastern Lightning had invested the year 2000 with eschatologi-
cal significance.120 Eastern Lightning’s chronology of world history indicates
that this concern was not unfounded. The movement subscribes to the notion
of a ‘World Week’ in which the six days of the world’s creation (as narrated
in Genesis 1–2:2) correspond to God’s “six-thousand-year management plan”
(六千年经营计划 liu qiannian jingying jihua) for human life. Biblical support
for this is found in 2 Peter 3:8, which remarks that “With the Lord a day is like
a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” A literal reading of the
genealogies in the Old Testament leads Eastern Lightning to believe that God
created the world in 4000 BC. The year 2000 AD was therefore anticipated to
witness the advent of the millennial kingdom,121 which corresponds to the sev-
enth day of rest observed by God at the beginning of creation. Some Christians
have held this belief since the first century; Eastern Lightning’s adoption of it
broadly follows Witness Lee, who is credited with founding the Shouters.122
The testimonies of Eastern Lightning adherents recall the onset of chiliastic
paroxysm within the movement as the curtain fell on the twentieth century.
117 This was determined by conducting a Google search of chinese.hidden-advent.org/

shenhua for “地狱” on October 18, 2007.
118 Revelation 20:2–6. These teachings are not entirely alien to the Chinese religious land-
scape; Daoist adepts could become immortals (仙 xian) who could live for one thousand
years in this world before ascending to heaven.
119 “Hymn 19: God has Sat on the Throne,” in “Kingdom Praise” section, Church of Almighty
God, Sing a New Song With the Lamb. For “new heaven and new earth,” see Revelation 21:1.
120 “Announcement from the First Division”: 69.
121 “Question 14,” in Church of Almighty God, Answering 100 Questions Related to the Bible.
Formerly available at http://english.hidden-advent.org/questions/0014b.php. Accessed
June 8, 2007.
122 Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1, chap. 15, pt. 4 (London:
Strahan & Cadell, 1782); Witness Lee, “Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man.”
92 CHAPTER 3
Zeng Qun from Sichuan province writes that she was captivated by the fantasy
of improved living standards in the millennial kingdom:
In 1999, I heard that God’s work would be ended soon. In excitement I

began to think: All the unbelievers will have been destroyed, leaving the
buildings, markets, cars and abundant material things, which we can use
and enjoy as we please. I won’t have to live in my shabby house or ride my
miserable, shabby bicycle, and even less have innutritious [sic] rice gruel
for meals.123
Zeng continues to relate that the fear of falling out of favour with God and
being denied these rewards stirred her into a frenzy of proselytizing, which
caused domestic discord. She had thought:
There is only one year left before God’s work ends, and now I should
expend my all for God, otherwise there will be no more opportunities.
So, I gladly accepted the commission from God, and every day I ran
around outside for the business of God’s family with great enthusiasm.
Because of this, I had no time to cook for my children, no time to do
the farm work, and no time to manage the household affairs. Every time
after I came back home from performing my duty [i.e.: itinerant prosely-
tizing; see pp. 141–42], I seized every minute to learn singing hymns [sic],
to dance, and to read God’s word, for fear I would be discarded by God if
I slacked off a bit. Seeing this, my husband said that I went [sic] insane
and he threatened to divorce me. I cheerfully told him that we could get
divorced if he liked and I wanted nothing but the clothes to wear.124
Needless to say, hopes surrounding the year 2000 were not realized. In the
absence of the new Kingdom, Eastern Lightning’s leaders advanced the doc-
trine of a period of “seven years of trials” (七年试炼 qinian shilian).125 In
Revelation 13, two beasts emerge from the water and earth respectively and
123 “65: The Seven-Year Trial is Salvation to Me,” in Church of Almighty God, Testimonies of
Experiencing the Judgment of the Word of Christ.
124 Ibid.
125 In a sermon posted on Eastern Lightning’s website in 2007, the preacher reflects that it was
“the fellowships” of “the man used by the Holy Spirit”—probably Zhao Weishan—who
introduced the doctrine of the Seven Year Trial. He Yi, “We Should Know the Significance
of God’s Raising Up the Man Used by the Holy Spirit,” in Church of Almighty God,
A Collection of Supplying Preaching (sic), contents p. 1, item 6.
cause havoc for three and a half years each before the fall of Babylon, the
beginning of the millennium and the coming of a new heaven and a new earth;
on this scriptural basis, Eastern Lightning announced that followers were to
endure seven more years of suffering before enjoying the millennium. Just
as in the Old Testament Israel had journeyed through the wilderness before
reaching the Promised Land, so now believers must pass an extended period
of “refining” and “perfecting.”126
This new doctrine was disseminated among believers in literature that is
supplementary to scripture and not attributed to the Female Christ; scripture
itself was not revised. Not all were convinced, however. Zeng Qun, who had
forsaken her home duties in favor of proselytizing during 1999, recalls her dis-
concertion upon realizing that her zeal had left her in a precarious financial
situation. She needed money for her parents’ medical treatment, her children’s
school fees, groceries, and chemical fertilizers. She could not see how she could
both make ends meet and sustain her proselytizing for another seven years.
She regretted her shortsightedness over the previous year, and felt “deceived
and fooled.”127
The essay “People’s Nature as Viewed from their Reaction to the Seven Year
Trial” reveals that postponing the millennium caused a backlash among many
believers:
After the Great Trial of Seven Years was announced, almost everyone was
negative and lukewarm. Some even wanted to leave God and return to
the world to seek the good life. Only a few continued in their service nor-
mally, but even they still harbored negativity in their hearts, feeling hurt
and not knowing what to do. In short, most people couldn’t get past this
plan of God’s, and had an attitude of resentment.128
In some cases, these grievances were resolved by methods reminiscent of

the political study sessions of decades past. One adherent recalls that their
126 “Jubei zhenshi de xin cai neng duguo suoyou de shilian 具备真实的信才能渡过所有
的试炼” [Only by possessing true faith is it possible to pass all the tests], in Church of
Almighty God, Jidu yu jiaohui gongren de zuotan jiyao 基督与教会工人的座谈纪要
[A record of Christ’s discussions with church workers], contents p. 2, item 64.
127 “65: The Seven-Year Trial is Salvation to Me,” in Church of Almighty God, Testimonies of
Experiencing the Judgment of the Word of Christ.
128 “Cong dui qinian shilian de fanying kan ren de benxing 从对七年试炼的反应看人的
本性” [People’s nature as viewed from their reaction to the seven-year trial], in Church
of Almighty God, Jidu yu jiaohui gongren de zuotan jiyao 基督与教会工人的座谈纪要,
94 CHAPTER 3
congregation held a meeting to share the “truths” that they had realized from
the teaching of the seven year trial. In turn, the members reflected that the
revised doctrine had benefited their faith by helping them understand God
more, and showing up their own lack of loyalty.129 In this vein, a chastened
Zeng Qun came to believe that the seven-year trial was an opportunity to “get
rid of [her] corruptions and have [her] nature transformed.” She resolved to
“cherish” this time and to accept the coming trials “so as to get rid of the impu-
rities in [her] belief and be gained by God in the end.”130
The beginning of 2007 should have marked the end of the Seven Year Trials,
but it passed without mention on Eastern Lightning’s website. Nor was the
teaching acknowledged in outsiders’ (i.e.: CCP, Protestant and academic)
reports of the group, suggesting that the specific date of the eschaton was
not of significant concern to most individuals’ religious practice and belief.
Moreover, the abatement of commentary on Eastern Lightning over 2005–2011
suggested that the movement was losing momentum.
Its appearance in news headlines in late 2012 was therefore abrupt. Chinese
authorities cracked down on the group in Qinghai and Guizhou provinces,
arresting approximately one thousand members for publicly proclaiming that
the world would end on December 21, holding outdoor prayer vigils and dis-
tributing pamphlets.131 In addition to being the northern hemisphere’s winter
solstice, December 21, 2012 was the date on which an ancient Mayan proph-
ecy predicted the world would end. Eastern Lightning’s adoption of this date
reflected a popular fascination with the Mayan legend in China, which was
popularized by the box-office success of the 2009 Hollywood film 2012.132 In
Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster, a solar flare causes the earth’s core tempera-
ture to rise, resulting in the earth’s crust breaking up and causing gargantuan
earthquakes and tsunamis. Crucially, a remnant of humanity survives aboard
several “arks”, which have been built deep underground in Tibet under Han
Chinese supervision. In the three years leading up to the apocalypse, places on
these arks are sold to the world’s wealthiest for a billion dollars apiece.
129 “481: I Was Really Regretful,” in Church of Almighty God, Testimonies of Experiencing the
Judgment of the Word of Christ.
130 “65: The Seven-Year Trial is Salvation to Me,” in ibid.
131 “Quanguo 1300 ren yin sanbo ‘shijie mori’ bei ju 全国1300人因散播’世界末日’被拘.”
See also the cover illustration for this book.
132 Feng Juxiang (冯菊香), “Wangluo liuyan de chuanbo lujing, yingxiang ji zhili: Yi 2012
‘shijie mori shuo’ wei li 网络流言的传播路径、影响及治理︰以2012 ‘世界末日说’
为例” [The dissemination, influence and management of internet rumors: The case of
‘doomsday theories’ in 2012], 今传媒 5 (2014).
The movie ignited an apocalyptic craze in the PRC. A hoax email from NASA
predicting a three-day-long total blackout went viral. The Beijing Institute of
Technology published a book on “The truth of the 2012 Mayan prophecy.” Over
twelve thousand “2012 end-of-world Noah’s ark tickets” were listed for sale
on Taobao, an internet shopping bazaar. Travel agents advertised trips to Tibet
to find the arks, where tourists could purchase postcards bearing flood scenes
from the movie and the words “Noah’s ark ticket.” A Zhejiang entrepreneur
made and sold “arks” designed to withstand volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, earth-
quakes, and nuclear radiation for one to five million yuan per unit.133
While most of the population regarded the fad with a dose of good humor,134
some Eastern Lightning believers took it more seriously. They warned of the
impending apocalypse, and claimed that the Almighty God could save mem-
bers from it.135 The organization printed a compilation of favorite scriptures
under the title The Church of Almighty God: The Ark in the End-Times, com-
plete with cover depicting a wooden ark being lashed by waves.136 However,
the members of Eastern Lightning who embraced the Mayan prophecy appear
to have done so without sanction from the group’s self-proclaimed authori-
ties. A letter dated December 16, 2012 addressed to churches throughout China
boasted of recent evangelistic successes but stated:
We do not proclaim judgment day (世界末日 shijie mori), but simply tes-
tify to God’s work in the end times. The judgment day theory is mistaken;
the Bible records that there will be major disasters in the end times, but
doesn’t say anything about the final day . . . The Bible prophesies that
133 Shi Aidong (施爱东), “Mori yaoyan de hudie xiaoying ji qi chuanbo dongli 末日谣言的
蝴蝶效应及其传播动力” [The butterfly effect of doomsday rumors, and driving forces
behind them], 民族艺术 2 (2014): 46, 53–54.
134 Ibid., 93.
135 Feng Juxiang (冯菊香), “Wangluo liuyan de chuanbo lujing, yingxiang ji zhili 网络流言
的传播路径、影响及治理,” 38; Wu Minggao (吴明高), “Xiejiao weifa fanzui huodong
de qushi ji chuzhi duice 邪教违法犯罪活动的趋势及处置对策,” 83.
136 Church of Almighty God, Quannengshen jiaohui, mohou de fangzhou 全能神教会,末后
的方舟 [The Church of Almighty God, the ark in the end-times].
In fact, it was not the first Protestant-related movement to have referenced Noah’s
Ark—the True Jesus Church referred to itself as the “ark in the last days,” as did several
small new religious movements in the late twentieth century. Deng Zhaoming (鄧肇明),
“Indigenous Chinese Pentecostal Denominations,” 441; Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Jingti
yiduan xiejiao liyong Jidujiao ‘moshilun’ zaocheng weihai 警惕异端邪教利用基督教
‘末世论’ 造成危害” [Beware of harm caused by heresies and cults using Christian escha-
tology], 中国宗教 12 (2012): 45.
96 CHAPTER 3
disasters will get bigger and bigger . . . but the world and humans will not
be completely destroyed, and the earth and heavens will remain.137
The fragmentation of Eastern Lightning provides part of the explanation as

to why Eastern Lightning has remained relatively unaffected by the failure of
its prophecies. Evidently, only a few chapters of the Church of Almighty God
embraced the idea that the world would end in 2012, and so the rest of the
organization was insulated from the effects of its errancy. This calls into ques-
tion CCP depiction of the group as ‘tightly organized’—a point which will be
developed in Chapter 5 of this book.
Another reason for Eastern Lightning’s continued strength in the face of
failed prophecy is that, as seen in the case of Zeng Qun, Eastern Lightning’s
leadership has offered explanations for the delay in the arrival of the new era.
As Stephen O’Leary has elucidated, the rhetoric of apocalyptic movements
inevitably moves from prediction and persuasion to enactment. As time passes
and the fulfillment of the promises held out to believers cannot be postponed,
apocalyptic argument “becomes a mode of ritual enactment that retraces the
pattern of the divine revelation”; what was formerly predicted is said to be
presently unfolding.138 Thus, shortly after it was announced in the mid-1990s
that in the Millennial Kingdom God would “speak to the entire universe”, not
just China, Eastern Lightning released a compilation of scripture entitled God
Speaks to the Entire Universe, constituting a rhetorical enactment of the pro-
phetic Millennial Kingdom.139
Finally, Eastern Lightning has provided social support for these explana-
tions. This process bears out a theory advanced by sociologists who studied
an American UFO group over fifty years ago. When Prophecy Fails suggested
that individuals were unlikely to leave a group if given strong social support for
the religious explanations of failed prophecy.140 As we saw in the case of Zeng
137 Church of Almighty God, “Gei ge di jiaohui shen xuanmin de yifeng xin 给各地教会神
选民的一封信” [A letter to God’s elect in churches everywhere].
138 Stephen D. O’Leary, Arguing the Apocalypse: A Theory of Millennial Rhetoric (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1998), 206; Talmon, “Millenarian Movements,” 169–70.
139 “A Talk About ‘The Millennial Kingdom Has Come,’ ” in Church of Almighty God, WAF,
contents p. 4, item 5. From March 2001 Eastern Lightning’s homepage, then at http://
www.godword.org, linked to a publication entitled Shen xiang quanyu de fasheng 神向
全宇的发声 [God speaks to the entire universe]. Ascertained using tools at http://www
.archive.org/web/web.php.
140 Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails: A Social
and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1956).
Qun, most members of Eastern Lightning were reassured by their peers and so
accepted the trials as part of the divinely ordained eschatology, and renewed
their commitment to the movement. It remains to be seen how Eastern
Lightning’s leaders will explain the continued postponement of the millen-
nium, and just how long followers will remain satisfied by these explanations.
The Relevance of Eastern Lightning’s Teachings
Over the past twenty-odd years, Eastern Lightning has produced 1231 pages of
scripture and a multitude of additional texts explaining and defending it as
life-giving Truth. Though the Female Christ’s teachings have been pored over
by countless followers, they have yet to be studied from a scholarly perspec-
tive. Within China, Eastern Lightning’s status as a ‘cult’ (邪教 xiejiao) entails
that its doctrine is treated as a thin veneer for the wiles and ambitions of
Zhao Weishan. Therefore, it is considered unworthy of rigorous study, an issue
quite apart from the political hazards of such research. Even Wu Dongsheng,
a Chinese scholar noted in Chapter 1 for his study of Protestant-related new
religious movements, reflects this judgment as he inserts inverted commas
around the term “doctrine” (教义 jiaoyi) in the chapter of his book allocated
to that topic.141
Chinese scholars further sideline the teachings of Eastern Lightning and
other religious movements by portraying their adherents as uninterested
in—and often ignorant of—them. According to these scholars, simple peas-
ants are instead preoccupied with securing tangible and immediate benefits
such as physical healing and relief from poverty.142 Such an approach is com-
patible with the Marxist intellectual tradition, which views religious belief as
grounded in material conditions. However, Western scholars have also ques-
tioned the primacy of doctrine and emphasized the concerns of pragmatism
and spiritual efficacy (灵 ling) for Chinese believers in both historical and
141 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密.

142 Lu Yunfeng, “Report on an Investigation into the Illegal Organisation, the ‘Disciples Sect,’ ”
CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 12; Xi Wuyi (习五一), “Yingdang guanzhu xinxing mobai tuanti de
pohuaixing yinsu 应当关注新兴膜拜团体的破坏性因素,” 53.
98 CHAPTER 3
contemporary times.143 At a more fundamental level, social scientists have

queried the role of cognitive processes in religion.144
The names of Protestant-related new religious movements, which include
‘Efficacious Spirit Teachings’ (灵灵教 Lingling jiao) and ‘Practical God’ (实
际神 Shiji shen, another name for Eastern Lightning), do indeed suggest the
importance of efficacy and personal benefit in these religions. This chapter has
also identified aspects of adherents’ religious practice that appear to depart
from Eastern Lightning’s doctrine, and incoherencies in Eastern Lightning’s
texts, which suggest that the theoretical aspects of the religion are not of prime
concern to its adherents. Nevertheless, unlike popular religions, heterodox
sects have historically emphasized correct belief, and Eastern Lightning may
be identified with this textual tradition in this regard.145 Irrespective, Eastern
Lightning’s teachings are worth studying for what they demonstrate about
the legacy and longevity of elements of earlier religious movements in China.
Eastern Lightning has built upon the same cultural traditions it condemns—
anecdotes of retribution, shamanism, the lightning goddess, the Taipings, and
even contemporary secular crazes. While looking forward to a time to come
and claiming to reject and transcend the old, it also appeals to the past for
meaning and legitimacy. In this sense, it is a typical millenarian movement.146
Yet certainly, while millenarian new religious movements are found the world
over, Eastern Lightning could only have been made in China.
143 Overmyer, “Alternatives,” 157; Carsten T. Vala and Kevin J. O’Brien, “Attraction without
Networks: Recruiting Strangers to Unregistered Protestantism in China,” Mobilization 12,
no. 1 (2007): 86; Chau, Miraculous Response, 2, 58–60.
144 Malcolm Ruel, Belief, Ritual and the Securing of Life: Reflective Essays on a Bantu Religion
(Leiden: Brill, 1997), 36, 57.
145 Daniel L. Overmyer, Precious Volumes: An Introduction to Chinese Sectarian Scriptures from
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center,
1999), 280–1.
146 Talmon, “Millenarian Movements,” 195.
CHAPTER 4
The Heritage of Eastern Lightning’s Teachings:

A Case Study
A “big red dragon” (大红龙 da hong long) recurs throughout Eastern Lightning’s
texts, wending its way through hymns, scripture, testimonies and an electronic
“About Us” statement. The motif is a reference to the twelfth chapter of the
Book of Revelation, in which a “big red dragon” is eager to devour a male child
who is destined to “rule all the nations.” The dragon does not succeed, and
there ensues a battle between it and angelic forces in which the dragon is
vanquished:
there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong
enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled
down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the
whole world astray.1
In Eastern Lightning texts as in Revelation, the dragon represents a satanic

adversary. More specifically, it usually refers either to the CCP or to government
agents. In an essay entitled “What does it mean to hate the big red dragon?”, for
example, we read that the dragon-devil of Revelation has become incarnated
as Chinese power holders who are persecuting Eastern Lightning members
(“saints”):
the devil Satan is using the despots to corrupt humanity, brutally per-
secuting and devouring people’s souls. It is precisely these Princes of
the Devil who wield power and tyranny on earth, using their power and
influence to rob people of freedom . . . This gang of fiends is indeed the
incarnation of the big red dragon; they are its representatives. How many
1 Revelation 12:7–9. Discussion in this chapter focuses on the Christian dragon as it appears
in Revelation, as this is the context most commonly referred to by Chinese Protestants in
their own discussion of the dragon. On Chinese interpretations of reference to the dragon-
serpent elsewhere in the Bible, see Archie Chi Chung Lee, “The Dragon, the Deluge and
Creation Theology,” in Frontiers in Asian Christian Theology: Emerging Trends, ed. Rasiah S.
Sugirtharajah (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1994).

100 CHAPTER 4
saints have died under their sword! Today many are still in their custody,
spending their lives in dark dungeons.2
Needless to say, the identification of the dragon with the CCP has ramifica-
tions for Eastern Lightning’s political status. Its writings on the dragon are
also of interest because they contrast with popular Chinese representations of
the dragon, which are generally positive. In its first recorded appearance, the
dragon (龍 long) presented a scroll bearing the Eight Trigrams to the emperor
Fuxi 伏羲 (2852–2737 BCe).3 From the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), Chinese
people prayed to the dragon god for rain. A dragon was used to represent impe-
rial power; the emperor, thought to be an incarnation of the dragon, reigned
from a ‘dragon throne’ (龍椅 longyi) and wore a ‘dragon robe’ (龍袍 longpao).
Centuries later, the Qing rulers chose the dragon to represent the Chinese nation.
Today, the dragon is the most auspicious of the twelve zodiac animals, and
‘dragons’ dance during Chinese New Year, often donned in the festive color of
red. How, then, did Eastern Lightning come to adopt the dragon as a symbol
of evil? And what might Eastern Lightning’s dragon add to our understanding
of the relationship of the movement to other Chinese traditions?
In tracing the development of Eastern Lightning’s depiction of the dragon,
this chapter unearths the historical responses of Christians in China to the
creature. From China’s early encounter with Christianity to the present day,
some believers have viewed the Chinese and biblical dragons as distinct crea-
tures and accepted both the positive and negative representations. These
believers argue that the Chinese word long (龙; traditional form 龍, usually
rendered ‘dragon’ in English) is a completely different creature to the Western
dragon, as it is an amalgam of animals and predates cultural exchange between
China and the West. Others have drawn equivalence between the Western
dragon and Chinese long and consequently shunned the latter, believing it to
be demonic.4 In its depiction of the big red dragon, Eastern Lightning thereby
2 “Shenme jiao hen’e da honglong? 100: 什么叫恨恶大红龙?” [100: What does it mean to hate
the big red dragon?], in Church of Almighty God, Jidu yu jiaohui gongren de zuotan jiyao 基督
与教会工人的座谈纪要 [A record of Christ’s discussions with church workers], contents
p. 3, item 68.
3 Doré, Researches into Chinese Superstitions, vol. 5, 677–78.
4 In so doing, these believers subscribe to what Lydia Liu refers to as a “trope of equiva-
lence”—namely, “the idea that languages are commensurate and equivalents exist naturally
between them.” Lydia Liu, Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, and Translated
Modernity, China 1900–1937 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995), 3. While not wish-
ing to reinforce this “trope,” this chapter continues to translate long as “dragon” in order to
Heritage of Eastern Lightning ’ s Teachings 101
echoes Protestant-related teachings that are time-honored and have long been
branded as heterodox by the state.
The Christian Dragon Comes to China, c. 1580–1850
The first Christians to arrive in China in the modern era, the missionaries of
the Society of Jesus famously represented by Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), became
renowned for their deep appreciation of Chinese culture and adaptation to
Chinese traditions. Accordingly, they were tolerant of Chinese representations
of the dragon. When asked in 1639 whether Westerners believed that dragons
sent rain, for example, Giulio Aleni (1582–1649) elected not to deny the exis-
tence of the dragon—though he did comment that should the dragon exist, it
would not have a soul.5
Within one hundred years of the Jesuits’ arrival in China, however, priests
were speaking openly of evil dragons before their Chinese audiences. From
1675, a Jesuit translation of sacramental rites from Latin into Chinese instructed
priests to recite this prayer at the conclusion of an exorcism:
Almighty Lord . . . Jesus Christ. Formerly you bestowed authority on your

followers: our feet could trample on poisonous dragons (毒龍 dulong) and
pythons (蟒蛇 mangshe), on all the power of the evil demons (邪魔者
xiemozhe) . . . I humbly beg you to grant that I, your insignificant servant,
whose transgressions are forgiven, might, relying on your grace and abil-
ity, be brave and attack this fiercely poisonous dragon (利害毒龍 lihai
dulong).6
demonstrate the mechanics and logic through which it has operated. On the long generally,
see M.W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan (Amsterdam: J. Muller, 1969 [1913]); Wang
Dong (王东), Zhongguo long de xin faxian 中国龙的新发现 [New discoveries concern-
ing the Chinese dragon] (北京: 北京大学出版社, 2000); Zhijian Tao, Drawing the Dragon:
Western European Reinvention of China (Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2009), 15ff.
5 Gang Song, “Learning from the Other: Giulio Aleni, ‘Kouduo richao,’ and Late Ming Dialogic
Hybridization.” (PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2006), 283–84. Song quotes
Kouduo Richao 口鐸日鈔 as reprinted in Chinese Christian Texts from the Roman Archives
of the Society of Jesus, ed. Nicolas Standaert and Adrian Dudink (Taipei: Taipei Ricci Institute,
2002), vol. 7: 553.
6 Ludovico Buglio, trans., Shengshi lidian [Rituale Romanum]. Originally published in Peking,
1675; Chinese text reprinted in Chinese Christian Texts from the Roman Archives of the Society
of Jesus, ed. Nicolas Standaert and Adrian Dudink (Taipei: Taipei Ricci Institute, 2002), vol. 11.
102 CHAPTER 4
Nicolas Standaert states that liturgical manuals such as that quoted above were
“hardly used” because the Vatican did not permit the celebration of the lit-
urgy in Chinese.7 However, the exorcising powers of the missionaries were
in high demand. According to popular aetiology, unfavorable situations—
including illnesses—were frequently caused by demons, and the new religious
teachers from the West were perceived as being able to perform the exorcism
required to remedy the situation in the same way as their Buddhist and Daoist
counterparts.8 Thus, several decades prior to the translation of this rite, the
Jesuits were already famed as exorcists, and regarded by rural people as “pow-
erful masters of ritual.”9 The popularity of exorcistic practices together with
lingering traces of this rite in the 1950s (discussed below) suggest that a consid-
erable number of Chinese may have been exposed to the Jesuits’ representa-
tion of the dragon as demonic.
However, it should not be inferred from this that the Jesuits were insensitive
to the cultural considerations surrounding evil dragons. Rather, they translated
their ritual in terms consistent with preexisting religious traditions. From the
fifth century, Chinese Buddhist texts taught of a “poisonous dragon” that even-
tually escaped his dragon form by accepting the commandments.10 Skin dis-
eases such as leprosy and scabies were also attributed to dragon venom.11 This
tradition was noted by Western visitors to China in the nineteenth and twenti-
eth centuries. In 1886, a reverend of the Southern (USA) Presbyterian Mission
in Suzhou recounted Chinese Buddhist miracle tales that mentioned a “bad
Translation here is from Thomas H. Reilly, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Rebellion and
the Blasphemy of Empire (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004), 38.
7 Nicolas Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, vol. 1: 635–1800 (Leiden: Brill, 2001),
627.
8 Jacques Gernet, China and the Christian Impact: A Conflict of Cultures (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press and Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 1985),
89–90.
9 Brockey, Journey to the East, 97, 95.
10 William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist
Terms (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 1995), 265. Soothill and Hodous cite Da zhidulun
[Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra] vol. 14. The “commandments” to which Soothill and Hodous
refer are most likely the Five Precepts (戒 jie) which prohibit stealing, taking of life,
adultery, speaking falsely and drinking wine. Buddhists believed that lay disciples who
observed these Precepts would be reborn in the human realm. See Soothill and Hodous,
Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, 239.
11 Ren Jiyu (任继愈), ed., Fojiao da cidian 佛教大辞典 [Dictionary of Buddhism] (南京:
江苏古籍出版社, 2002), 376.
dragon” and “poisonous dragons that sent pestilence and disease.”12 In 1922,
E.T.C. Werner noted the association of evil dragons with mountain-dwelling
nagas, or deities, which take the form of a snake.13 In introducing the Christian
dragon to China, then, the Jesuits adopted a vocabulary already familiar and
acceptable to many Chinese, and not offensive to the imperial house at which
some of them served.14
The Jesuits’ sensitivity towards the imperial house in their depiction of the
dragon is additionally reflected in the work of Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–
1766), a missionary who became a painter for the court under the Kangxi
emperor in 1715. Castiglione was well aware of the association between the
dragon and the emperor—he painted the Qianlong emperor in dragon robes
seated on a dragon throne in 1748.15 Consequently, when he set out to paint the
archangel Michael defeating the big red dragon as recorded in Revelation, he
followed European artists in using a human-like form and appending a drag-
on’s tail in preference to depicting a Chinese-style dragon (Figure 4).16
12 Hampden C. DuBose, The Dragon, Image, and Demon, or The Three Religions of China:
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism: Giving an Account of the Mythology, Idolatry and
Demonolatry of the Chinese (London: S.W. Partridge, 1886), 175.
13 E.T.C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China (Singapore: Graham Brash, 1984 [1922]), 208.
14 In this connection it is also worth noting that from the fourteenth century, women’s prac-
tice of Daoist inner alchemy involved a practice known as “decapitating the red dragon”
(斷赤龍 duan chilong), in which “women refine[d] their menstrual blood by progres-
sively diminshing their menstrual flow and eventually stopping it altogether.” Despeux,
“Women in Daoism,” 406.
15 Michel Beurdeley, Peintres jésuites en Chine au XVIIIe siècle (Arcueil, France: Anthese,
1997), 69.
16 The Christogram which appears on Michael’s shield here (“IHS”) has been used widely by
the Jesuits; the inscription along its rim reads “Soli Deo honor et Gloria” [To God alone be
honor and glory]. Chinese Christian artist He Qi 何琦 (on whom see discussion later in
this chapter) attributes the painting to Castiglione and argues that its depiction of the
dragon reflects cultural sensitivity. He Qi (何琦), “Four Historical Stages of the Indi
genization of Chinese Christian Art.” Available at http://www.omhksea.org/2012/06/four-
historical-stages-of-the-indigenization-of-chinese-christian-art/. Accessed August 15, 2013.
A painting of the “Arcangelo Michele” is also attributed to Castiglione by George R. Loehr,
Giuseppe Castiglione 1688–1766: Pittore de Corte de Ch’ien-Lung, imperatore della Cina
(Rome: Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed estremo Oriente, 1940), 117. An article on the
website of the Amity Christian Art Center (also introduced later in this chapter) likewise
mentions a painting of the Archangel probably painted by Castiglione, and speculates
that it may not have been signed because court painters were not permitted to paint out-
side the court. Available at http://www.acac.org.cn/llwx-23.htm. Accessed June 24, 2008.
104 CHAPTER 4
figure 4 “Michael Defeating the Demon” by

Giuseppe Castiglione (18th century).
Not all Westerners shared the Jesuits’ accommodation of Chinese attitudes

towards the dragon; later visitors to China were perturbed by the dissonance
between Chinese and Christian representations of the dragon. The remark
of a British interpreter in 1856 that the Chinese imperial dragon was “a most
excellent animal with which to astonish an admiring, uninitiated, European
audience”17 merely hints of bemusement. Other commentators were less toler-
ant, and censured Chinese celebration of the dragon as a form of Satanic wor-
ship. One British naturalist was troubled by the use of a dragon in a procession
on the island of Macao in 1838, complaining:
the pleasure of contemplating such [processions] is strongly marred by

the thought, that the choicest gifts of Providence, the graces of human
17 Thomas Taylor Meadows, The Chinese and Their Rebellions, Viewed in Connection with
their National Philosophy, Ethics, Legislation, and Administration (London: Smith, Elder &
Co., 1856), 60.
life, and the refinements of art, are made to move in procession to the
honour of the Devil; for there he was under the semblance of a huge
dragon, ‘the old serpent,’ just as he appeared to our first parents when he
persuaded them to break their pledge with their Maker.18
“Our first parents” here refers to Adam and Eve, who were tempted by the devil
in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden; Revelation (12:9, quoted on
page 99 of this book) tells us that this serpent is one and the same as the big
red dragon. Hence, Lay ruefully concluded:
The Chinese are faithful in retaining their heritage of moral learning,

and in keeping many of their handicrafts from the contagion of improve-
ment, but they have been still more faithful in handing down from father
to son the abominable worship of Satan, with all its insignia and ostenta-
tious parade.19
It is unclear to what extent attitudes toward the Chinese dragon were divided
along Protestant and Catholic lines. However, at least some Protestants were
critical of Catholic tolerance of the creature. Hampden C. DuBose expressed
his dismay that French priests “adopt[ed] the heathen rites of the Chinese . . . on
a Catholic altar in Shanghai the dragon and cross are united,”20 and on the
basis of such accommodation dismissed Roman Catholicism as “Buddhism
prepared for a foreign market.”21 Soon after the arrival of Protestants in China,
then, the dragon had become an issue of contention among Christians.
The Dragon and the Taipings, 1851–64
In the mid-nineteenth century, Chinese individuals drew an equivalence

between the Chinese and biblical dragons on a mass scale. Hong Xiuquan
viewed himself as having been “specially dispatched” by God to slay the big red
dragon-serpent of Revelation,22 and depicted the Manchu rulers as serpent-
18 G. Tradescant Lay Esq., The Chinese as They Are: Their Moral, Social, and Literary Character;
A New Analysis of the Language; With Succinct Views of their Principal Arts and Sciences
(London: William Ball & Co., 1841), 201.
19 Ibid.
20 DuBose, Dragon, Image, and Demon, 290.
21 Ibid., 291.
22 See Hong Xiuquan’s annotations to Revelation 12 in Michael, The Taiping Rebellion, 236.
106 CHAPTER 4
demons.23 His equation of the dragon of Revelation with the Chinese dragon is
evident as he condemns popular veneration of the dragon of the Eastern Sea,
which was traditionally credited with bringing rain:
in recent times there have been heretics who falsely declared that the
dragon devil of the Eastern Sea can produce rain, however, this dragon
devil of the Eastern Sea is nothing more than a transformation of the
devil of Hades.24
Hong Ren’gan (洪仁幹) (1822–64), cousin and second-in-command to Hong

Xiuquan, removed images of dragon demons from his home alongside fig-
ures of Confucius and other Gods after hearing of Hong Xiuquan’s visions,
and recorded that those who believed in him “destroyed innumerable idols.”25
He also appeared to recognize the potential for controversy surrounding the
dragon as he decreed that
during the present founding period of the state, all memorials and pub-
lic notices have special political significance . . . in the preparation of
memorials, such demonlike expressions as ‘dragon virtue,’ ‘dragon coun-
tenance,’ . . . must not be used . . . on one matter there may be two differ-
ent views, making it difficult to distinguish between right and wrong. If
one reads without understanding, the consequences may be serious.26
Both Westerners in China at the time and later scholars attributed the Taipings’
negative representations of the dragon to Christian influence.27 The dragon
does not grace the pages of Liang Afa’s Good Words to Admonish the Age,
the Christian tract that made an infamous impression on Hong.28 However,
passages in the Book of Revelation concerning the dragon were among the
23 Shih, The Taiping Ideology, 12. See also Peter A. Russell, “Christian Millenarianism and
the Taiping Movement: Reopening a Debate,” Histoire Sociale / Social History 10, no. 19
(1977): 121.
24 In “An Exhortation on the Origin of Virtue for the Awakening of the Age,” which was writ-
ten between 1844–46 and forms part of the Taiping Imperial Declaration reprinted in
Michael, The Taiping Rebellion. Quote from page 39.
25 Michael, The Taiping Rebellion, 6.
26 Quoted in Shih, Taiping Ideology, 78.
27 Meadows, Chinese and Their Rebellions, 420; Boardman, Christian Influence, 82, passim.
28 Liang Fa (梁發), Quan shi liang yan 勸世良言 [Good words to admonish the age] (臺北:
臺灣學生書局, 1965 [1832]).
ortions of the Bible Hong annotated, suggesting that his attitude towards
p
dragons may indeed have been informed by his exposure to Christianity.29
This said, Hong’s condemnation of the dragon was not universal, but selec-
tive and pragmatic. Citing visions of golden dragons in heaven, he deemed that
the “precious dragon” used by the Taipings to adorn their imperial seal, utensils
and vestments was acceptable. He thereby retained the representation of the
dragon that could bolster his authority (namely, the imperial dragon), and dis-
carded that which might serve as an alternative source of devotion (namely,
the dragon deity), ruling that: “the precious dragon is truly a dragon and truly
not a demon; but beyond these . . . all the snakelike demons which delude the
souls of men; these, while called dragons, are really demons.”30
The Taipings succeeded in taking control of large areas of southern China
and enlisted three quarters of a million soldiers in the movement. While the
extent to which these recruits helped to propagate their leader’s view of most
dragons as devils is unclear, individuals’ religious affiliations were frequently
transferred between Christianity and the Taipings, especially after the defeat of
the latter,31 providing opportunity for the diffusion of these beliefs. In any case,
we see in the remarks of Hong Xiuquan the ‘dragon-as-devil’ thesis evolving
from a largely foreign teaching in the Christian context into one espoused and
developed by Chinese religious actors. This trend was to continue during the
twentieth century.
The Dragon in Chinese Protestantism, 1900–1960
Few sources directly address the dragon in Chinese Christianity in the early
twentieth century. Evidently, some missionaries continued to despair. In 1911,
Pentecostal Missionary Union worker Frank Trevitt longed for “Christ’s glori-
ous Ensign, to be placed where the Dragon holds such sway.”32 There are also
29 Michael, Taiping Rebellion, 236.

30 “Book of Declarations of the Divine Will Made During the Heavenly Father’s Descent to
Earth [II],” in ibid., 217–18. In Hong’s visions, God wore a “black dragon robe” and dignitar-
ies were dressed in dragon gowns, marking them as men of importance in the traditional
manner. See Shih, Taiping Ideology, 8–9.
31 Jessie Gregory Lutz, Opening China: Karl F.A. Gützlaff and Sino-Western relations, 1827–1852
(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2008), 259.
32 Allan Anderson, “Revising Pentecostal History in Global Perspective,” in Asian and
Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia, ed. Allan Anderson and Edmond
Tang (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2005), 163. Anderson cites Frank Trevitt,
Confidence 4:8 (August 1911): 191.
108 CHAPTER 4
signs that teachings on the dragon were disseminated by the independent

Protestant movements that prospered during this period. Watchman Nee,
leader of the popular Little Flock, identified the big red dragon with murder
and cruelty when preaching on Revelation in the 1930s.33 One of his disciples,
Witness Lee (李常受 Li Changshou), fled to Taiwan in 1949, where in 1953–54
he denounced “ornaments, furniture, and clothing with the image of the dragon”
as “evil and unclean” and exhorted followers to do away with them. He related
the following anecdote:
Once, there was an elderly sister in whose home were two things: a silk
lamp shade embroidered with dragons and a tea set also printed with a
dragon design. Long after her salvation she did not sense anything. Then
she was enlightened by the Lord and became possessed of a deep inner
feeling toward these things. She had no peace whenever she saw these
items with dragon designs. She then proceeded to destroy them accord-
ing to her inner feeling.34
Indigenous denominations also continued to invoke the dragon in the context

of exorcism. In the late 1950s, one Ceng Aiguang (曾爱光) publicly accused
“reactionary elements” in the True Jesus Church in Wuhan of having performed
an exorcism upon her in 1950. She alleged that during the ritual, conducted
when she was just fifteen years old, church members referred to the demon
as a “python spirit” (蟒蛇精 mangshe jing), using a term reminiscent of the
Catholic rite quoted above.35 Around the turn of the communist revolution,
then, the dragon had been integrated into configurations of Protestantism that
were independent of foreign control.
33 Watchman Nee, “Study on Revelation,” in Collected Works of Watchman Nee, set 1, vol. 16.
Available at http://www.ministrybooks.org. Accessed June 24, 2008.
34 As recounted in chap. 2, Witness Lee went on to found the Local Church in the USA,
which is often referred to as the “Shouters” and labeled an “evil cult” in contempo-
rary China. The Church reprinted Lee’s talks, including dragon references, in 1968 and
1998. Witness Lee, “The Experience of Life: Regeneration and Clearance of the Past,”
Affirmation & Critique (1998 [1968]). Available at http://www.lsm.org/affirmation-
critique/pdfs/1998/01/98_01_a3.pdf. Accessed January 15, 2008.
35 Ceng Aiguang (曾爱光), “Xue yu lei de kongsu 血与泪的控诉” [An accusation of blood
and tears], TF 10 (consec. 553) (1958): 8–9. Of course, accusations made during this time
were frequently inaccurate. However, members of the True Jesus Church were instructed
to “seek the power of healing and of exorcising demons.” Bays, “Indigenous Protestant
Churches in China, 1900–1937,” 134.
The dragon—and Christians’ attitudes towards it—became highly politi-

cized in the early days of the People’s Republic. During the anti-rightist
campaign of 1957–58, members of the TSPM accused preachers who refused
to join the movement of encouraging the destruction of “idols” such as vases,
teapots and quilts bearing the dragon totem.36 In this way, the equation of
Chinese and biblical dragons was now deemed to be heterodox by participants
in the CCP’s United Front. Indeed, with the advent of ‘Red’ China, the big red
dragon took on new significance for some Chinese Christians, and they identi-
fied the creature with the CCP.37 In Liaoning province in 1957, for example, one
Sun Xipeng was criticized in both Protestant and secular media for labeling the
CCP the “big red dragon”, and preaching that its rule was the Great Tribulation
that precedes the final judgment in the Book of Revelation.38 Likewise in
Heilongjiang, a pastor who had joined the Kuomintang (Nationalist party)
publicly cursed the Party as the “red dragon.”39
In light of the political excesses of this period, we may doubt the veracity of
such accusatory reports. However, studies of Chinese religious movements in
the 1940s and 1950s, including studies of Protestantism, have noted the preva-
lence of apocalyptic and chiliastic ideologies during this time,40 and so it is
36 See, for example, Qi Dao (启道), “Shanghai Jidujiao nei de yiban niliu 上海基督教内的
一般逆流” [An adverse current within Protestantism in Shanghai], TF 10 (consec. 553)
(1958): 19, 21.
37 For Protestant accusations of such behavior, see Zhejiang Protestant TSPM Committee
(浙江省基督教三自爱国运动委员会), “Jielu Zhejiang sheng Jidujiao nei de yixie
feifa weifa huodong 揭露浙江省基督教内的一些非法违法活动” [Revealing some
illegal activities within Protestantism in Zhejiang province], TF 28 (consec. 555) (1957):
18; Xu Rulei (徐如雷), “Jianjue fandui feifa weifa huodong 坚决反对非法违法活动”
[Resolutely oppose illegal activities], TF 28 (consec. 555) (1957): 20; Wang Shenyin (王神
荫), “Shi ren haishi shou? Yincang zai Shandong jiaohui nei de fandong fenzi de zuixing
lingren fazhi 是人还是兽? 隐藏在山东教会内的反动分子的罪行令人发指” [Man
or beast? The crimes of reactionary elements hidden within the church in Shandong pro-
voke indignation], TF 10 (consec. 553) (1958): 14. See also Lydia Lee, A Living Sacrifice: The
Life Story of Allen Yuan (Kent: Sovereign World, 2001), 144.
38 “Liaoning sheng tongdao jihui jielou youpai fenzi Sun Xipeng 辽宁省同道集会揭露右
派分子孙鹏翕” [Christians in Liaoning Gather to Unmask Rightist Sun Xipeng], TF 26
(consec. 535) (1957): 3–5. Originally published in the Liaoning Daily newspaper (遼寧日
報) on August 14, 1957.
39 See Carsten T. Vala, “Failing to Contain Religion: The Emergence of a Protestant Movement
in Contemporary China” (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2008), 43–44. Also
Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 201.
40 Gao Ying, “God’s Promise and Eschatological Hope,” CTR 20 (2007): 48–50; Ownby,
“Imperial Fantasies,” 75ff.
110 CHAPTER 4
credible that some Protestants interpreted the Communist victory through

the lens of Christian millenarianism. Such an interpretation was undoubtedly
encouraged by the CCP’s suppression of religious expression. Written against a
backdrop of the persecution of Christianity at the end of the first century, the
book of Revelation depicts the dragon as recruiting oppressive political pow-
ers to its assault on the church. While apocalyptic and millenarian movements
throughout the world have interpreted political events as fulfilling this proph-
ecy, the notion no doubt resonated with particular strength in the Chinese
context given the association of the color red with Chinese culture and the
CCP, and the profile of the dragon in cultural traditions.
Associating the big red dragon with the Communist Party was, and remains,
offensive to the latter not only because the dragon is an incarnation of the
devil, but also because it is eventually defeated in Revelation. After battling
angels and persecuting the church, the dragon-devil is eventually “thrown into
[a] lake of burning sulfur” and “tormented day and night for ever and ever.”41
In identifying the CCP with the big red dragon, Christians effectively proph-
esy the demise of the regime, just as heterodox sects before them denied the
emperor’s Mandate of Heaven by predicting the fall of dynasties. Conversely,
the TSPM’s condemnation of identification between the dragon and the CCP in
the 1950s reflected its support for the new political regime.
Chinese believers were not alone in depicting the CCP as the big red dragon;
some exiled missionaries evidently shared their view,42 and thus the ‘dragon’
has continued to be associated with a negative, Western depiction of China
since this time.43 However, the fact that the reports discussed here appeared
in the Protestant press after the exodus of missionaries from China suggests
that it was not solely the political prejudices of foreigners, but also indigenous
agency and innovation that took the big red dragon from being a general sym-
bol of evil to one that was frequently associated with the CCP and its persecu-
tion of religion.
The Dragon in Post-Mao Chinese Protestantism
The equation of the Chinese and biblical dragons by some Chinese Protestants
survived the Cultural Revolution, and flourished within house churches and
Protestant-related new religious movements during the early 1980s. Since then,
41 Revelation 20:10.

42 Harold H. Martinson, Red Dragon over China (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1956).
43 Peter Hays Gries, China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2004), 1–2.
some Protestants have been reported to believe that the historical misfortunes
of the Chinese nation and of individuals are a consequence of God’s displea-
sure at veneration of the dragon, and to proclaim that as “descendents of the
dragon” (龙的传人 long de chuanren), Chinese people are particularly sinful.44
As in previous decades, tales abound of pious Christians throughout the nation
smashing house wares that bear the dragon totem,45 going so far as to warn that
anyone who uses a quilt embroidered with a dragon is “sleeping with Satan”
(抱着撒旦睡觉 baozhe Sadan shuijiao).46 Contrary to more customary Chinese
preferences, today’s young Protestants and even pastors commonly avoid mar-
rying and giving birth during the Year of the Dragon, change their name if it
includes the dragon character, and avoid using the Dragon Credit Card (龙卡
longka) issued by the China Construction Bank.47 Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements draw on this culture; the Taiwanese Full Gospel of Blood,
Water and Holy Spirit Evangelistic Mission claims that its leader exorcised the
“ancient dragon” from a female Christian in 1989,48 and in 2008, the TSPM’s
magazine reported that The Association of Disciples demanded the destruc-
tion of images of snakes and dragons.49
Identification of the dragon with the CCP also persists. While many religious
formations in post-Mao China have enjoyed a more cooperative relationship
with the state, new religious movements and some Protestants have rejected
conciliation. In early 1983, a pastor in Shandong province reported that some
Protestants were “using the dragon for counter-revolutionary purposes”;50 in
44 Wang Kuilin, “Must Everything with a Dragon be Destroyed (sic),” Religion in the PRC:
Documentation 18 (1985): 37–38; Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩), ed., 坚持真理,抵挡异端 [Hold
fast to the truth, resist heresy] (Shanghai: CCC/TSPM, 1996), iv; Wan Ge (万戈), “E’du de
‘dongfang shandian’ 恶毒的‘东方闪电’ ” [Malicious “Eastern Lightning”], TF 11 (1997):
24–25; Geng Weizhong, “ ‘Dragonizing’ over Creatures in the Bible,” ANS 7/8.5 (2004).
45 Wang Tongzhang (王同章), “Dizhi xiangcun jiaohui de yiduan xieshuo 抵制乡村教会
的异端邪说” [Resisting heresies in rural churches], TF 5 (2005): 24.
46 Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩), “Shengjing guan yu ‘long’ de wenti 圣经观与“龙”的问题”
[Biblical hermeneutics and the dragon], 金陵神学志 (Nanjing Theological Review) 3
(2006): 64.
47 Ibid. Also Cao, Constructing China’s Jerusalem, 71.
48 Moses Tsuo Kun 左坤 is said to have exorcised the demon from a “Sister Liu.” The group,
which was introduced in chap. 2 of this book, has led proselytizing expeditions to main-
land China, with what seems to be limited success. The exorcism, complete with con-
versation between Zuo and the “dragon,” was formerly recorded on the group’s website.
“Miracle to Bind the Ancient Dragon.”
49 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan ‘mentuhui’ de neimu 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside the
heretical “Disciples”], TF 1 (2008): 30.
50 Wang Shenyin (王神荫), “Bixu zhizhi jiajie jidujiao mingyi jinxingde weifa fanzui
huodong 必须制止假借基督教名义进行的非法犯罪活动” [Illegal activities using
112 CHAPTER 4
1992, an article in the national Protestant magazine again lamented that “[the
term ‘big red dragon’] is employed by reactionary elements both in China and
abroad to denigrate the New China, and to slander the Chinese Communist
Party.”51 Later that decade, the Established King movement was reported to
have described the CCP as the great red dragon and “able to grow only by drink-
ing dry the blood of the faithful and the prophets.”52
The eschewing of the dragon has thus become notorious in contempo-
rary Chinese Protestantism, while being far from universal. The registered
Protestant organizations (Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian
Council) continue to condemn animosity towards the dragon, and pastors and
theologians associated with these bodies continue to argue that the drawing
of an equivalence between the Chinese and biblical dragons is theologically
“erroneous.”53 Representative of these arguments is an article published in the
journal of the national Protestant seminary in 2006 by Zhao Zhi’en. Reverend
Zhao contends that the dragon as it appears in Revelation is a “symbolic
description,” and that the devil is an intangible “evil spirit” rather than a physi-
cal animal.54 He chides some Protestants for their negation of Chinese culture,
and implores them to be mindful of the cultural background against which
Revelation was written in considering their treatment of the dragon.55 In April
2009, Reverend Ni Guangdao similarly related the story of the young wife of
the name of Christianity must be stopped], TF 2 (1983): 31. Note that Wang had earlier
voiced criticism of “reactionary” depictions of the dragon in the 1950s (see note 37 of the
present chap.).
52 “The Heretical ‘Established King Cult’ Is Brought to Trial,” CSJ 10, no. 2 (1995): 60.
53 Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Theological Reconstruction in Shanghai,” CTR 16 (2002): 92; Zhao
Zhi’en (赵志恩), “Shengjing guan yu ‘long’ de wenti 圣经观与 ‘龙’ 的问题” [Biblical
hermeneutics and the dragon], 金陵神学志 (Nanjing Theological Review) 3 (2006): 64.
54 Zhao Zhi’en, “Shengjing guan yu ‘long’ de wenti 圣经观与 ‘龙’ 的问题,” 65.
55 Yet while those who view the dragon as evil are frequently represented by their detractors
as ignorant and superstitious, the shunning of the dragon by Protestants in Taiwan and
Chinese congregations in the USA indicate that the dragon taboo is to be found across
a broad spectrum of Chinese believers, and was probably commonplace prior to 1949.
A highly educated and well-travelled Taiwanese friend sounded a note of caution upon
observing the dragon motif on bowls in my kitchen; see also Fenggang Yang, Chinese
Christians in America: Conversion, Assimilation, and Adhesive Identities (University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), 146–47. Nor is this a uniquely Chinese prob-
lem; see Mark Galli, “A New Day in Vietnam,” Christianity Today (2007). Available at
http://ctlibrary.com/ct/2007/may/24.26.html. Accessed May 22, 2008; James H. Grayson,
an intellectual who burned precious artworks with the dragon to improve

her chances of falling pregnant. Ni described this as an example of “extrem-
ism” and distanced the Chinese dragon from evil as he reflected that “In fact,
everyone who understands the Bible knows that the idols that God opposes are
objects of worship, not things that people collect, appreciate or use every day.”56
Such accommodation of Chinese dragons is reflected in the work of He Qi,
an artist who was formerly a professor at the TSPM’s Nanjing Union Theological
Seminary (金陵协和神学院 Jinling xiehe shenxueyuan). He’s website states
that he “hopes to help change the ‘foreign image’ of Christianity in China” (i.e.,
the image of Christianity as being foreign).57 Accordingly, his paintings depict
Old Testament patriarchs as high-ranking officials in the Chinese style. David,
an Old Testament king, wears the image of an imperial dragon,58 and Moses
and Joshua also wear the face of the dragon on their outer garments (Figure 5).59
He 何 intentionally uses the dragon due to its traditional association with
power and the emperor.60 Both He’s work and reproductions of Castiglione’s
painting (Figure 4) have been sold in the Amity Christian Art Center (爱德文
化艺术中心 Aide wenhua yishu zhongxin)61 opposite the national theological
seminary in Nanjing, representing the TSPM’s tandem acceptance of Chinese
and biblical understandings of the dragon, and Protestants’ reconciliation of
their own identities as both Chinese and Christian.
The dragon remains of interest not only to political and religious figures, but
also to the broader Chinese community. In 2006, the dragon was reportedly
rejected as the mascot for the Beijing Olympics for fear of alienating Western
“Elements of Protestant Accommodation to Korean Religious Culture: A Personal

Ethnographic Perspective,” Missiology 23, no. 1 (1995): 47–48.
56 Ni Guangdao (倪光道), “Lun jiaonei de yixie jiduan xianxiang 论教内的一些极端现
象” [On some extremist phenomena within Protestantism], TF 4 (2009): 48.
57 “About Artist.” Available at http://www.heqigallery.com/about.html. Accessed August 8,
2013.
58 He Qi (何琦), Look toward the Heavens: The Art of He Qi (New Haven, CT: OMSC
Publications, 2006), 47.
59 Ibid., 29, 37, 38, 43.
60 Susan Wunderink, “The Dragon in the Belly: Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings,” Christianity
Today (2008). Available at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/117-
51.0.html. Accessed May 22, 2008.
61 Author’s observation, Nanjing, 2006. The Amity Foundation is a Chinese Protestant char-
ity founded in 1985; proceeds from the Amity Christian Art Center’s store help fund aid
programs. See www.amityfoundation.org and www.acac.org.cn.
114 CHAPTER 4
figure 5 “Moses Striking the Rock” by He Qi (2005).62
audiences,63 and media seized on the suggestion of a Shanghai professor that

the character 龙 be rendered “Chinese dragon” or “long” in English translations
62 He Qi (何琦), “Moses Striking the Rock.” Available at http://www.heqigallery.com. Accessed
May 6, 2009. The title of the painting refers to Exodus 17:1–7, in which Moses strikes a rock
with his staff and water comes out of it for the Israelites to drink as God had promised him.
63 “Options on English Version for ‘Chinese Dragon’ Suggested,” People’s Daily Online
(December 12, 2006). Available: http://english.people.com.cn/200612/12/eng20061212_
331596.html. Accessed August 25, 2007. Yet, ironically, the foreign architects of the new
so as to prevent cultural confusion.64 The issue of using the dragon to sym-

bolize China became a “hot topic” on the Strong Nation BBS (online discus-
sion) forum, and the popular website sina.com conducted a survey, which saw
90 percent of one hundred thousand respondents voting to keep the dragon as
a national icon.65 In short, it is a symbol of popular nationalism.
The Dragon in Eastern Lightning, Revisited
In stark contrast, Eastern Lightning’s teachings regarding the big red dragon
echo earlier iterations of Protestant-related religiosity, which have been
viewed as heterodox by the state and official religious associations. These
teachings are of concern to the authorities. In September 2000, the Deputy
Director of the Shijiazhuang Public Security Bureau expressed indignation
at Eastern Lightning’s teachings about the dragon as he informed colleagues
that “This organization attacks China with the claim that currently she is ‘a
large decadent imperial family dominated by the Big Red Dragon’ ” and that
“In their conviction to overthrow the power of the ‘Big Red Dragon’, [Eastern
Lightning leaders] are actively seeking theoretical basis and draft work plans
[sic] in order to recruit more members.”66
To date, Eastern Lightning’s fight against the big red dragon has been largely
confined to the spiritual realm and to evading authorities.67 Nevertheless, the
reasons for the state’s castigation become clear when viewed in light of earlier
portrayals of the dragon. Since the dragon has historically been associated with
the state, attitudes towards the dragon frequently reflect political orientation,
and can serve as a barometer of a religious group’s orthodoxy or heterodoxy in
the eyes of the state. Thus, the TSPM’s defense of the Chinese dragon reflects
its united front with the CCP, while the metaphor of the dragon is a thin shroud
for Eastern Lightning’s bellicosity.
Beijing Airport celebrated its “dragon-like form.” Foster + Partners, “Beijing Airport:
Description.” Available at http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1235/Default.aspx.
64 “Options on English Version for ‘Chinese Dragon’ Suggested,” People’s Daily Online.
65 “Dragon Debate Stirs Public’s Imagination,” People’s Daily Online (2006). Available at
http://english.people.com.cn/200612/12/eng20061212_331381.html. Accessed August 25,
2007.
66 “Announcement from the First Division,” 67–68.
67 As an example of Eastern Lightning’s nebulous references to counterattacks on the great
red dragon, see hymn number 43, “God Has Gained Glory” in “Kingdom Praise” section of
Church of Almighty God, Sing a New Song to the Lamb.
116 CHAPTER 4
Government repression of Eastern Lightning only reinforces the antago-

nism: Eastern Lightning interprets it as enacting the biblical dragon’s persecu-
tion of the church in Revelation. Li Huiqin of Weinan city in Shaanxi province,
for example, writes that after joining Eastern Lightning, her salary continued
to be paid by the government and she did not initially incur any trouble as
a result of her religious affiliation. She therefore bore no ill will towards the
‘dragon’ and was perplexed by God’s desire to annihilate it. All this changed in
April 2003, however, when she and six other female believers were allegedly
detained and beaten by police. Li writes that as a result of this incident,
I silently confessed to God in my heart: O God! I was so ignorant and

blind . . . I always had doubts about your words of disclosing [sic]
the essence of the great red dragon, and I even couldn’t understand
why you would exterminate this old devil completely. I was really too
ignorant! . . . Today . . . I have distinguished between good and evil, seen
your beauty and kindness, seen the ugly and wicked features of the great
red dragon.68
This dynamic is also evident in the development of the movement as a whole;

Eastern Lightning reflects that “without the cruel persecution of the great red
dragon, the church of Almighty God would not have developed.”69 The dragon
has occupied a prominent place in exogenous reports of Eastern Lightning
from the movement’s early days. In May 1992, the national Protestant maga-
zine Tian Feng reported that beginning in March of the previous year, materi-
als distributed by the organization in Neixiang county of Henan province had
linked the great red dragon with CCP oppression, and threatened to “mount
a powerful counter-attack against the Great Red Dragon.”70 However, there
is some indication that the group’s rhetoric surrounding the big red dragon
has escalated.71 An “About Us” statement written in 2006 refers repeatedly to
68 Li Huiqin, “208: The Great Red Dragon Is Too Hateful!” in Church of Almighty God,
Testimonies of Experiencing the Judgment of the Word of Christ. While we cannot be certain
that the events which Li recounts did in fact take place, Eastern Lightning’s publication
and circulation of her testimony reflects and perpetuates the view of persecution as con-
firming the satanic nature of the CCP.
71 Dunn, “Netizens of Heaven: Contesting Orthodoxies on the Chinese Protestant Web,”
451–52.
the CCP as the “great red dragon,”72 and predicts that it is about to “fall from
power” (垮台 kuatai);73 in early 2013, a church communiqué interpreted
the CCP crackdown and negative media reports of the Church as “the great
red dragon trying in vain to fight back and disrupt God’s work with its final
breaths.”74 Thus, the CCP has yet to find an effective way of stopping Eastern
Lightning’s identification of it with the dragon, and of breaking the cycle of
repression and subversion.
In addition to their political import, Eastern Lightning’s teachings pertaining
to the dragon are significant because they reflect the development of a Chinese
Christian culture. The prominence of the dragon in Eastern Lightning’s ide-
ology indicates that biblical or ‘Western’ depictions of the dragon have been
appropriated, indigenized and developed by Chinese religious actors who have
been regarded as heterodox by political authorities, and by other Protestants.
From early missionaries to the Taiping rebels to popular Protestantism to
Eastern Lightning, the identification of dragons with devils has been woven
into the fabric of folk Protestantism and become an iconic component of
Protestant-related heterodox movements in contemporary China.

73 Ibid., 5.
74 Church of Almighty God, “Dadui meiti jizhe caifang guanjian zaiyu zenyang jianzheng
shen de zuogong 答对媒体记者采访关键在于怎样见证神的作工” [Witnessing to
God’s work is the key in responding to media interviews].
CHAPTER 5
The Chinese Government’s Response

to Protestant-related New Religious Movements
In late 2012, in several hundred to several thousand incidents, groups of up to

a hundred-odd Eastern Lightning members gathered in public spaces through-
out China to proclaim that the end of the world was nigh.1 They also demon-
strated outside local government offices to demand the release of members
who had been arrested, in some cases assaulting police. Shortly thereafter,
Eastern Lightning’s leadership reminded members that “Our spreading the
gospel and witnessing about God has nothing to do with politics. It is without
political ambition or motivation, and nor is it in order to overturn any govern-
ment or political party.”2 However, the timing of the action was particularly
sensitive as it coincided not only with the apocalyptic predictions attached
to the Mayan calendar, but also with the CCP’s Eighteenth National Congress
in November, at which Xi Jinping was elected the Party’s General Secretary.
Government organs therefore responded with a swift crackdown, which
proved effective in curbing the unrest.
The Chinese government claims that its response to Protestant-related new
religious movements differs little from that of governments in other countries,
but two contexts distinguish it. First, since 1999 the Chinese government’s
response to new religious movements has been shaped by its confrontation
with Falun Gong. While the eventual containment of Falun Gong demonstrated
authorities’ power to coerce, sanction and monitor,3 the conflict resulted in the
most extensive social and political unrest in a decade. Jolted by these events,
authorities scrambled to gather intelligence on Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements around the turn of the millennium. The Ministry of Public
Security convened a meeting in August 2000 for representatives from security
and defense departments from fourteen cities and provinces to discuss Eastern
1 See front cover of this book. 4365 incidents cited in Tian Liang (田亮), Li Jingtao (李静涛),
and Huang Ying (黄滢), “Xiejiao jiaozhu zui’e zhenxiang 邪教教主罪恶真相,” 28.
2 Church of Almighty God, “Dadui meiti jizhe caifang guanjian zaiyu zenyang jianzheng shen
de zuogong 答对媒体记者采访关键在于怎样见证神的作工.”
3 James Tong, Revenge of the Forbidden City: The Suppression of Falun Gong in China, 1999–2005
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 225, passim.

The Government ’ s Response 119
Lightning;4 six weeks later, the Department of Public Security in Hebei prov-
ince did the same for authorities there. The department’s Deputy Director
expressed the concern that if Eastern Lightning continued to grow, it would
“seriously endanger the rule of the party and the socialist system.”5 This may
be hyperbole, but surely demonstrates the political sensitivities surrounding
Eastern Lightning.
The government’s wariness of new religious movements is also heightened
by China’s history of heterodoxy. In imperial times, Chinese elites regarded
sectarian cosmology as menacing due to popular belief in an intimate rela-
tionship between kalpic and dynastic cycles. The end of a kalpa (world era)
was thought to signal the end of a dynasty, and so proclaiming its imminence
was tantamount to prophesying the demise of the ruling dynasty. Either nat-
ural disasters or social unrest could indicate the withdrawal of the Mandate
of Heaven, and so new religious movements that threatened the court mili-
tarily or symbolically were suppressed. With its proclamation that the world
will soon end and the dragon will be slain, and its fomenting of ‘social unrest’
via public gatherings, Eastern Lightning similarly violates the CCP’s symbolic
order.
As Chapter 1 indicated, Christian-related religious movements have been
among those which have historically threatened Chinese rulers, and been
deemed heterodox by them. During the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies Christianity was widely viewed as heterodox by officials and the lite-
rati due to its departure from Confucian orthodoxy and perceived threat
to local political order.6 In 1616 the vice minister of Nanjing’s Ministry of
Rites denounced missionaries, thereby initiating the Nanjing persecution
of 1616–17. Specifically, Shen Que (1565–1624) condemned the Jesuits for
their teachings on astronomy, holding secret meetings, “confusing” people,
soliciting conversion through bribes, departing from Confucianism and
“injuring imperial influence.”7 Officials interpreted Christian activities as
resembling those of heterodox sects, claiming that they “chanted sutras” (誦經
songjing) and read “heretical scriptures” (邪書 xieshu).8 Eventually, the
Yongzheng emperor (r. 1722–35) and the Board of Rites banned Christianity
4 “Announcement from the First Division,” 66.

5 Ibid., 70.
6 Jean-Paul Wiest, “Setting Roots: The Catholic Church in China to 1949,” in God and Caesar in
China: Policy Implications of Church-State Tensions, ed. Jason Kindopp and Carol Lee Hamrin
(Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), 84, passim.
7 Brockey, Journey to the East, 66ff.
120 CHAPTER 5
in 1724 on the grounds that “[The missionaries] attract to their religion the
ignorant, both men and women; they build churches, where men and women
assemble together indiscriminately, under the pretext of praying . . . The
Empire gains nothing by this.”9
Western missionaries regained access to China following the Opium Wars
and the resulting ‘unequal treaties’, but the coercion involved in this process
increased enmity towards Christianity and added to the perception of it as
heterodox. In the nineteenth century, anti-Christian literature thus “accused
Christians of sorcery and sexual perversion and of indulging in a series of revolt-
ing practices.”10 The religion’s reputation was not improved by the Taipings,
who were regarded by the Qing government as Christians and denounced as a
“foreign heretical teaching” (外洋邪教 waiyang xiejiao).11
Heterodox teachings—Christian-related or otherwise—did not result in
rebellion all or even most of the time.12 Nevertheless, there is good reason
for the government to be alert to new religious movements. Susan Naquin
observed that the Eight Trigrams sect of the early nineteenth century was
“normally diffuse but potentially cohesive” in terms of organization and could,
“when their leaders predicted that the millennium was imminent, be literally
transformed into openly defiant rebels against the state and the established
order.” Thus, “believer and rebel [were] merely different phases of the same
salvational process.”13 While Protestant-related new religious movements have
yet to demonstrate the capacity and motivation to pose an immediate threat
to the regime, their base level of ideological antagonism (as per the ‘big red
dragon’) and the history of the rapid transformation of such groups into rebel-
lious forces entails that the CCP remains vigilant.
This chapter examines the form that this vigilance has taken in relation to
Eastern Lightning and similar movements over the past thirty years, and his-
tory’s effect on it. Protestant-related new religious movements dominate lists
of banned ‘cults’ and are subject to crackdowns in which ‘nests’ of activity are
uncovered, religious materials confiscated, leaders arrested, and adherents
interrogated. The government claims that it bans cults because they harm
9 Quoted in Columba Cary-Elwes O.S.B., China and the Cross: A Survey of Missionary History
(New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1956), 163.
10 Wiest, “Setting Roots,” 88.
11 Xia Chuntao (夏春涛), Tianguo de yunluo: Taiping tianguo zongjiao zai yanjiu 天国的陨
落—太平天国宗教再研究 [The fall of the heavenly kingdom: reexamining the religion
of the Taiping heavenly kingdom] (北京: 中国人民大学出版社, 2005), 444.
12 Overmyer, “Alternatives,” 155.
13 Naquin, Millenarian Rebellion, 2–3.
individuals, families and society, engaging in such crimes as fraud, rape, and
assault. It is difficult to assess the accuracy of these claims given Chinese
authorities’ record of demonizing religious figures and political adversaries,
and our distance from the new religious movements in question. What is clear
is that the government has been concerned about the potential of Protestant-
related movements to create social and political instability, and condemning
them has also supported its broader endeavors to suppress other unauthorized
religious gatherings.
From “Counter-Revolutionary Organizations” to “Evil Cults”
In 1982, an influential state policy document called for respect of freedom

of religious belief and declared that following the Cultural Revolution, “The
contradictions of the religious question now belong primarily to the category
of contradictions among the people.”14 Yet while the government accepted
some expressions of religion as anodyne, intolerance of heterodoxy persisted.
The document distinguished between the “normal religious activities” of the
Patriotic religious organizations, and “criminal and counter-revolutionary
activities under the cover of religion,” which the government was “deter-
mined” to suppress.15 Accordingly, a crackdown on the Shouters, which began
in May 1983, saw the group labeled a “counter-revolutionary organization” and
resulted in approximately two thousand arrests. Leaders received prison terms
while other adherents were forced to attend lengthy “study” sessions.16
The term ‘counter-revolutionary’ (反革命 fan geming) had been used to
label deviance under the CCP for decades. Like today’s new religious move-
ments, Protestant evangelists and leaders who resisted joining the Patriotic
religious association in the early 1950s were criticized for “twisting the Bible,”
“wearing the cloak of religion,” and demonizing the CCP; they were also accused
of fraud and rape, and of causing physical and psychological harm through
futile attempts at faith healing and exorcism.17 Even in the late 1980s Chinese
periodicals continued to employ the vocabulary that dominated denunciations
during the Maoist decades; Witness Lee and his followers continued to be
14 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “Document 19,” 11.
15 Ibid., 22.
16 Human Rights Watch / Asia, “China: Persecution of a Protestant Sect,” 3, 5, 7.
122 CHAPTER 5
referred to chiefly as “counter-revolutionary” (反革命 fan geming) and “reac-

tionary” (反动 fandong) in Chinese scholarly writing on Protestantism.18
When the Chinese government condemns Eastern Lighting today, it uses a
different term—xiejiao. Literally meaning “heterodox teachings”, this has been
translated in a multitude of official documents over the past fifteen years as
“[evil] cults.” The term is rooted in the Chinese state’s construction of—and
response to—heterodoxy throughout history. Chinese rulers have used the
binary categories of orthodoxy (正 zheng) and heterodoxy (邪 xie) to classify
religious groups and their relationship to political authority for at least two
thousand years. The latter word appeared in both the Confucian Analects and
the Book of Poetry (詩經 Shijing) meaning “evil or depraved” and in the Works
of Mencius meaning “perverse or morally misguided.”19 Polemics involving the
compound term 邪教 xiejiao developed in medieval China when Confucians,
Buddhists and Daoists vied for favor at the courts of officials. As Buddhism and
Daoism incurred lesser persecution after the Tang dynasty, xiejiao was reserved
for sectarian groups that were judged to be particularly pernicious, but became
standardized only in legal arguments during the mid-Qing dynasty.20
Discussion of xiejiao resurfaced in Chinese literature in the 1990s after a
series of spectacular incidents involving new religious movements overseas.21
In April 1993, around 80 members the Branch Davidians led by David Koresh
perished in a fire that came at the end of a 51-day FBI siege of their headquar-
18 For example, Li Yongqing (李永清), “Guanyu Jidujiao zai Wuhan shi nongcun fazhan
de sikao 关于基督教在武汉市农村发展的思考” [Reflections on the development of
Protestantism in rural areas around Wuhan], 中南民族学院学报（哲学社会科学版)
3 (consec. 36) (1989): 40; Yi Min (一民), Gong Qin (功勒), and Yun Liang (运良), “Nongcun
zongjiao huodong zhengchanghua guanjian zaiyu yindao: Guanyu Gushi xian Jidujiao de
diaocha he sikao 农村宗教活动正常化关键在于引导：关于固始县基督教的调查
和思考” [The key to normalizing religious activities in the countryside lies in leadership:
Survey and reflections on Protestantism in Gushi county], 信阳师范学院学报（哲学
社会科学版) 1 (1990): 30; Yu Jin (余金), “Jidujiao de shehui biaoxian yu qi zongjiao xin-
yang de neizai lianxi 基督教徒的社会表现与其宗教信仰的内在联系” [The inherent
connection between Christians’ social behavior and their religious faith], 上海社会科学
院学术季刊 4 (1986): 155.
19 David A. Palmer, “Heretical Doctrines, Reactionary Secret Societies, Evil Cults: Labeling
Heterodoxy in Twentieth-Century China,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity
and State Formation, ed. Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang (Berkeley: University of California Press,
2008), 116.
20 Kwang-Ching Liu and Richard Shek, “Afterword: The Twentieth-Century Perspective,” in
Heterodoxy in Late Imperial China, ed. Kwang-Ching Liu and Richard Shek (Honolulu:
University of Hawai‘i, 2004), 482–84.
21 Palmer, “Heretical Doctrines,” 126.
ters in Waco, Texas. The term “cult” was ubiquitous in American media reports
in the aftermath of the tragedy, and Chinese scholars followed suit by adopting
xiejiao in their own analysis.22 Two years later, Aum Shinrikyo released sarin
gas in the Tokyo subway, killing twelve people and capturing world atten-
tion. Xiejiao again appeared in Chinese reports, though some preferred the
term “new religious movements” (新兴宗教 xinxing zongjiao), which was
employed by the Japanese.23
As David Palmer has pointed out, from this time onwards, state and academic
use of the term xiejiao thus indicated both the revival of late imperial condem-
nations of heterodoxy, and an attempt to legitimize repression by appealing to
a “universal framework” and “the international menace of destructive cults.”24
‘Counter-revolutionary’ would not have been appropriate to describe move-
ments in non-Communist countries, and the transfer of polemics was facili-
tated by the resumption of scholarly exchange between China and the West in
the late 1980s.25
Reports of Protestant-related new religious movements in the mid-1990s
reflected the trend towards referring to heterodox movements using the
history-laden xiejiao. In the mid-1990s, the term appeared in secular reportage
of the arrest of Wu Yangming, the leader of the Established King movement, on
rape charges. While Wu had been prosecuted for “counter-revolutionary pro-
paganda and incitement” (反革命宣传煽动罪 fan geming xuanchuan shan-
dong zui) in relation to his activities with the Shouters in 1987,26 by 1995 the
headlines read “Established King Cultic Organization Suppressed According to
22 For example, Dirk Johnson, “Death in Waco: 40 Bodies of Cult Members are Found in
Charred Ruins,” New York Times, April 22, 1993; Yu Shixi (余事熙) and Xiao Shizhi
(肖世之), “Meiguo xiejiao neimu da baoguang 美国邪教内幕大爆光” [Inside American
cults], 图书馆 4 (1993).
23 See Wang Dajun (王大军), “Riben xiejiao: Aomu zhenli jiao 日本邪教—‘奥姆真理教’ ”
[Japanese cults—‘Aum Shinrikyo’], 中国宗教 1 (1995). Cf. Yuan Wenhua (袁蕴华),
“Riben xinxing zongjiao Aomu zhenli jiao deng jianjie 日本新兴宗教奥姆真理教等简
介” [A brief introduction to Japanese new religious movements such as Aum Shinrikyo],
国际资料信息 11 (1995).
25 Gao Shining (高师宁), “Xinxing zongjiao ji qi yanjiu zai Zhongguo 新兴宗教及其研究
在中国” [New religious movements and Chinese research on them]. Available at http://
www.mzb.com.cn/html/report/84814–1.htm. Accessed June 8, 2010.
26 Su Kang (苏康), “Jiexia Wu Yangming de mianju 揭下吴扬明的面具” [Removing Wu
Yangming’s mask], TF 4 (1996): 25.
124 CHAPTER 5
the Law,”27 and in 1996 his group was considered by some journalists to have
become “China’s largest cultic organization.”28 Similarly, the Association of
Disciples was referred to as an “illegal organization flaunting the Protestant
banner” (打着基督教旗号的非法组织 dazhe Jidujiao qihao de feifa zuzhi)
by the Hubei provincial government in 1990,29 but was listed as a xiejiao in
August 1995 by the Ministry of Public Security.30 While Maoist labels were still
invoked in Chinese writing on Protestant-related movements in the mid-1990s
and were explicitly favored by some authors to better reflect their sedition,31
the tag of xiejiao became increasingly common.
The term xiejiao was enshrined in the revised Criminal Law of 1997 as
Article 300 prescribed a term of three to seven years’ imprisonment for
“Whoever forms or uses sects (会道门 huidaomen) or evil cults (邪教 xiejiao)
or uses superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and admin-
istrative rules and regulations of the State.”32 Officials’ disquiet at Falun Gong
continued to grow—though still relatively slight at this stage—and a handful
of reports about Eastern Lightning were published in Protestant magazines in
the mid-late 1990s.33 However, the general populace was frequently unfamiliar
with the new religious movements operating in their midst. When prefacing a
detailed account of the suppression of the Established King group, the editor
of a major news magazine recounted Aum Shinrikyo and the Branch Davidians
and asked “So, can China also produce cultic organizations?”, reflecting the
impression that readers were either unaware that new religious movements
27 Shang Zhong (尚钟), “Xiejiao zuzhi ‘Beiliwang’ bei yifa qudi 邪教组织‘被立王’被依
法取缔.”
28 Ou Zhengtao (偶正涛), and Liu Zhifeng (刘峙峰), “Zhongguo zuida de xiejiao zuzhi
‘Beiliwang’ fumie ji 中国最大的邪教组织”被立王”覆灭记” [Notes on the sup-
pression of China’s largest cultic organization, the “Established King”], 海内与海外 6
(1996): 26.
29 Song Yonglin (宋永林), “ ‘Kuangye zhaimen’ weihe lüjin bu zhi‘旷野窄门’为何屡
禁不止” [Why repeated prohibitions have failed to quash the ‘Narrow Gate in the
Wilderness’], 吉林公安高等专科学校学报 3 (1997): 26.
31 Song Yonglin (宋永林), “ ‘Kuangye zhaimen’ weihe lüjin bu zhi 旷野窄门’为何屡禁
不止,” 26.
32 “Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xingfa 中华人民共和国刑法” [Criminal Law of the
People’s Republic of China]. Available at http://www.npc.gov.cn/huiyi/lfzt/xfxza8/2008-
08/21/content_1588538.htm. Accessed August 28, 2013.
33 TF 11 (1997): 23–26.
such as Falun Gong and Eastern Lightning were active within China, or did not
consider them to be ‘cults.’34
Chinese authorities took increasing notice of Eastern Lightning in the late
1990s as its membership grew. In 1998, the first division of the Public Security
Bureau in Anhui instructed offices throughout the province to “begin serious
investigation” of the Eastern Lightning “cult.”35 On 2 April 1999—three weeks
prior to the Falun Gong gathering outside Zhongnanhai—it warned that
Eastern Lightning may be planning a large and politically disruptive event for
the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the PRC in October that year. These
remarks, however, were confined within the pages of a top-secret security doc-
ument circulated only among public security bureaux.36
Even in early 1999, there was little secular reporting or scholarship on
Protestant-related new religious movements. The query of one Xia Shulin to
the editor of the magazine of the Jilin People’s Congress in early 1999 illus-
trates the sketchy awareness surrounding Protestant-related new religious
movements and the state’s treatment of them at that time. Xia wrote that in
November the previous year, he had been involved in the investigation of the
Korean Elijah “cult” (邪教 xiejiao) in a village within the greater municipal-
ity of Ji’an 集安.37 He reported that multiple crackdowns on the group had
prompted its leaders to flee to remote villages in the nearby mountains. On one
occasion witnessed by Xia, local police and the village committee detained two
leaders for fifteen days, discovered 38 followers, and confiscated 467 copies of
sectarian tracts. Xia, however, was unclear as to the legal basis for this action,
and requested clarification from the magazine’s editor.38
34 Editor’s introductory remarks to Ai Qun (艾群) and Wu Xiaolong (吴小龙), “Zhenbu
xiejiao ‘beiliwang’ 侦捕邪教 ‘被立王,’ ” 56.
35 “Notice on Further Strengthening of the Investigation Work,” 62.
36 Ibid., 62–63.
37 The World Elijah Evangelical Mission originated in Korea in 1980, and entered north-
eastern China in the early 1990s. The Chinese government banned it in 1996 in response
to a report by the Public Security Bureau in Jilin province, which found that the group
had approximately six hundred members, some of whom were living in communes and
spreading anti-CCP ideology. The movement has not spread widely. “Notice on Various
Issues,” 34–35.
38 Xia Shulin (夏树林), “Qudi xiejiao ping shenme? 取缔邪教凭什么？” [On what grounds
can cults be suppressed?], 吉林人大工作 1 (1999).
126 CHAPTER 5
“Evil Cults Flaunting the Protestant Banner”
Xia’s query would have been unimaginable later that same year, by which time
the “Falun Gong problem” had erupted in spectacular fashion, and state usage
of xiejiao was reinvigorated on a grand scale. In October 1999, the National
People’s Congress’ “Legislative Resolution on Banning Evil Cults” provided a
fresh legal basis for the suppression of new religious movements. The Supreme
Court elaborated, describing xiejiao—now translated by Chinese government
sources as “(evil) cults”—in the following terms:
In recent years, cultic organizations—especially the cultic organization

of Falun Gong—have used religion, qigong or other pretences to install
and deify key elements, worshipped their leader, and used methods such
as the creation and dissemination of superstition and heresy to mislead
and swindle others, recruit and control members, engage in illegal activi-
ties, and harm the lives, assets, safety and economic development of the
masses. This has seriously threatened social stability, and must be firmly
punished in accordance with the law.39
This description was quoted ad infinitum by government representatives,

academics and popular commentators, and Protestant-related new religious
movements were represented accordingly. One example of the government’s
depiction of “evil cults flaunting the Protestant banner” (打着基督教旗号的
邪教 dazhe Jidujiao qihao de xiejiao) is a half-hour audio-visual presentation
entitled Expose Fraud, Drive out Evil: Resist ‘The Disciples’ Illegal Organization.40
The film is of particular interest because it contains interviews with former
members of the Disciples and public security personnel involved in efforts
39 Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院), “Zuigao renmin fayuan guanyu guanche quan-
guo renda changweihui ‘guanyu qudi xiejiao zuzhi, fangfan he chengzhi xiejiao huodong
de jueding’ he ‘liangyuan’ sifa jieshi de tongzhi 最高人民法院关于贯彻全国人大常委
会《关于取缔邪教组织、防范和惩治邪教活动的决定》和“两院”司法解释
的通知” [Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on the Implementation of the Decision
of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress “On Banning of Evil Cults,
Preventing and Supppressing Cultic Activities” and the Judicial Interpretations of the
Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme Procuratorate]. Available at http://www.pkulaw
.cn/fulltext_form.aspx?Gid=26459&Db=chl. Accessed August 21, 2013. See also “Full Text
of New Chinese Legislative Resolution Banning Cults.” Available at http://www.cesnur
.org/testi/falun_005.htm. Accessed March 31, 2004.
揭穿骗局，匡正祛邪.” Descriptions and quotations in the following several paragraphs
are also derived from this source.
to suppress the movement. It was made in 2007 by the Chinese Anti-Cult

Association (中国反邪教协会 Zhongguo fan xiejiao xiehui), which was
founded in November 2001.41 While the Association is not technically a gov-
ernment body, it has functioned to support and disseminate the government’s
depiction of ‘cults’ in public education campaigns, and political representa-
tives were among its founding members. It can therefore be considered to rep-
resent the state’s view of new religious movements.
As outlined in Chapter 2, the Association of Disciples was founded in
Shaanxi Province in 1989 by Ji Sanbao, who claimed to be the incarnation of
Christ. It has since become one of the larger of the Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements. The film was made for the express purpose of exhorting the
populace to “guard against” “evil cults”, and could still be viewed on anti-cult
websites as of mid-2013. It begins with the sound of cheerful violins and scenes
of bounteous rice paddies, stores of grain, blue skies and shiny new tractors.
A narrator rejoices:
Since [the commencement of] reform and opening up, the face of the
countryside has changed. Peasants’ cultural and material lives have con-
stantly improved, and there have been new developments in all kinds of
rural projects. Most rural folk are striving to build a new socialist country-
side and a harmonious society.
Here, the music abruptly takes on an ominous tone and the sky clouds over.
The narrator continues in a sombre tone: “However, a few dark things are
spreading, poisoning peasants’ thinking and destroying the order of peasants’
lives and production, causing great harm.”
From the start, then, the Disciples are presented as a rural problem. As the
film continues, this is reinforced: we hear from peasants with heavy accents
that require subtitles, and see footage of herds of sheep, crumbling brick
houses and hand-woven baskets. It is true that the followers of some new reli-
gious movements are mostly poor and located in rural areas. However, the state
here emphasizes that new religious movements exacerbate financial hardship
through the religious requirement to tithe (奉献 fengxian). An old woman
bemoans that she sold the family cow to donate money to the organization;
the narrator observes of former adherents that “the more fervent their belief,
the poorer they became” (越信越穷 yue xin yue qiong).
41 In late 2014, the website of the national Anti-Cult Association was at www.cnfxj.org; for-
merly www.anticult.org. Provinces, and many major cities and counties, have their own
chapters.
128 CHAPTER 5
The presentation invites amusement at the superstition of these peasants.

A young woman in Hunan recalls with a chuckle that her mother-in-law had
claimed that her store of rice would magically replenish itself if she believed
the Disciples’ teachings. To her amazement, the daughter-in-law saw that the
level of the rice in their storage container did indeed seem to be rising. The
ruse was uncovered, however, when she returned to the house unexpectedly
one day to find her mother-in-law refilling the container on the sly.
Other accounts of charismatic phenomena related by the film are far more
sobering. Through tears and indignation, adherents’ families tell of injury and
death caused by the abandonment of medical treatment in favor of prayer.
A young man of thirty was recovering from nephritis (inflammation of the kid-
ney) when evangelists claimed that if he joined the Disciples he would not
need to take any medicine; six months later, he was dead. Most chilling is the
case of one Sun Ruidong 孙瑞东. Sun joined the Disciples in late 2004, enticed
by the prospect of a cure for the muscular dystrophy that affected his legs. His
younger brother recalls that Sun soon began to exhibit symptoms of mental
imbalance, becoming immersed in prayer and obsessed with the prospect of
“ascending to heaven” (升天 shengtian). In June 2005, Sun received a vision
which led him to believe that if he killed four people he would indeed ascend
to heaven. He then murdered his mother. Decked in prison garb as he serves
a life sentence, he now weeps with bitter remorse. Alas, the narrator observes,
his tears cannot bring his mother back.
As the film continues, it plays interviews with cadres who knew Ji Sanbao,
the Disciples’ founder, as a young man. They attest that he was a “slacker”
(二流子 er liuzi) of peasant background, and recall that after minimal school-
ing he worked in a coal mine, but fled to Xinjiang after stealing some money.
According to the film, Ji died in December 1997 after his car crashed into a road
barrier. He was replaced as leader by one Yu Shiqiang 蔚世强, who died of
liver cancer in May 2001; the most recent leader is said to be surnamed Chen,
and to be serving a thirteen-year prison sentence.42
The political aspirations and activities of the Disciples are also shown. We
see footage of a Disciples’ meeting place in Hubei, which consists of a cave dug
out from a hillside. Its doorways are painted with red characters p roclaiming
42 In publicizing the fate of the Disciples’ leaders, the state counters one of the chief claims
of the movement—namely that joining offers protection (保平安 bao ping’an), and that
if they do not, disaster will strike (大难临头 danan lintou). Yet in showing that crime
does not pay, the state indirectly reinforces the popular notion that disaster will befall
those who reject the True Way. (See also pp. 80–87 of this book, and Ownby, Falun Gong
and the Future of China, 176–77.)
the incarnation of God and the Throne of David, a famed Old Testament king.
We are also told that the Disciples proclaim God’s kingdom (神的国度 shen
de guodu), and that from 2004 they made flags bearing a red enlongated cross
against a white background (called “Victory Flags” 得胜旗 desheng qi). A police
officer reports that the Disciples have fanned dissent towards the government,
and that in Inner Mongolia in 2006, two hundred members surrounded a local
government building to demand the release of fellow members who had been
arrested.
As the film approaches its conclusion, we see scenes of peasants studying
anti-cult materials in a courtyard. The voiceover advocates punishing cult
leaders and educating “ordinary believers” to recognize the evil nature of the
Disciples; methods suggested include anti-cult cultural exhibitions, door-to-
door visits, and public broadcasts over loudspeakers. The film suggests that
in addition, poverty alleviation measures will remove the incentive to follow
the Disciples and help peasants to become more productive and law-abiding
citizens. In this vein, former adherents—one with a thick accent and conspic-
uously dressed in suit and tie—rejoice that they have become wealthier since
having left the organization. Finally, as children run through an orchard, the
narrator exhorts those enmeshed in the Disciples to turn from their ways and
contribute to the building of a new socialist countryside, a harmonious society,
and a better tomorrow.
“Second only to Falun Gong”
The state produced propaganda such as this film in response to its real unease
at Protestant-related new religious movements and their capacity to create
social harm and political instability. However, its efforts against them have also
had two important effects upon the politics of Chinese religion in recent years.
The first of these has been to lend legitimacy to the campaign against Falun
Gong. The Chinese government has claimed that it is not only responding to
the specific threat of Falun Gong, but that a whole tide of ‘cults’ is jeopardizing
social stability. While the National People’s Congress’ “Legislative Resolution
Banning Evil Cults” of late 1999 singled out Falun Gong for mention, it did so in
the context of a broader censure of “cultic organizations” in China’s recent past,
some of which were said to be unrelated to qigong and to have “used religion.”43
State condemnation of Protestant-related new r eligious m ovements supports
43 Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院), “Tongzhi 通知.” See quotation given on page
126 of the present chap.
130 CHAPTER 5
the claim that ‘cults’ are a widespread and pressing p roblem requiring a formi-
dable response, and enables the government to ward off suggestion that it is on
a witch hunt against Falun Gong alone.
This consideration was undoubtedly partly responsible for the dramatic
increase in the number and profile of Chinese reports of Protestant-related
new religious movements after April 1999, even though they did not engage in
exceptionally large-scale or public political action around this time. The arrest
of Liu Jiaguo, leader of the Lord God’s Teachings, at a train station in June 1998
went largely unpublicized. On June 3 1999—five weeks after Falun Gong’s
vigil outside Zhongnanhai—he was sentenced to death and fellow leader Zhu
Aiqing to twenty years’ imprisonment for rape, fraud and organizing and using
a cultic organization to break the law.44 Whereas Liu’s capture had attracted
little fanfare in 1998, his execution by firing squad in late 1999 made the fourth
page of the People’s Daily newspaper.45
In publications and at conferences, Eastern Lightning and other Protestant-
related movements have been mentioned in the same breath as Falun Gong,
and are said to “defraud followers,” “fabricate rumors,” “endanger lives,” “seduce
and rape women,” “use single-line communication,” “constantly change
addresses,” and “use threats and intimidation.”46 Where Falun Gong is “fake
qigong”, Protestant-related new religious movements are said to “dress them-
selves up as Protestant” (披着基督教外衣 pizhe Jidujiao waiyi); where in the
case of Falun Gong physical harm is said to result from practitioners searching
for a wheel inside their abdomen, in the case of Protestant movements, harm
comes as followers are discouraged from seeking medical treatment; where
Falun Gong practitioners organized a “disturbance” outside Zhongnanhai,
44 Hunan Supreme Court (湖南省高级人民法院), “Liu Jiaguo, Zhu Aiqing (xingshi panjue
shu) 刘家国、朱爱清 (刑事判决书).”
45 Shi Tao (石涛) and Hu Jie (胡杰), “Jianyin funü, zhapian qiancai, weihai shehui: xiejiao
‘Zhushen jiao’ ” zhufan zai Xiangtan fufa 奸淫妇女、诈骗钱财、为害社会 (sic):
邪教”主神教”主犯在湘潭伏法” [Raping women, perpetrating fraud, harming soci-
ety: Prime offender in “Lord God’s Teachings” sentenced in Xiangtan]. Available at http://
www.people.com.cn/rmrb/199910/15/newfiles/col_19991015001038_zyxw.html. Accessed
September 9, 2006.
46 For example, Liu Xueli (刘学礼), ed., Mikuang de linian: Xingxing sese de xiejiao 迷狂
的理念：形形色色的邪教 [Blurred understandings: All kinds of cults] (上海: 上海科
学技术出版社, 1999). Also contributions by Jiang Jiasen, Zhu Tongyou, Xi Wuyi, Lu Yao
and Zhao Kuangwei in Shehui wenti yanjiu congshu bianji weiyuanhui (社会问题
研究丛书编辑委员会), ed., Lun Xiejiao: Shoujie xiejiao wenti guoji yantaohui lunwenji
论邪教：首届邪教问题国际研讨会论文集. On this characterization of “evil cults,”
see Palmer, “Heretical Doctrines,” 124–25.
Eastern Lightning was alleged to have incited followers to pray in Tiananmen

Square in anticipation of the eschaton in 1999.47 In most cases around the year
2000, commentary on Protestant-related movements was nebulous, suggest-
ing that it had not been written in response to specific incidents but rather
the need to justify the anti-cult campaign, and the possibility that Protestant-
related movements might foment instability akin to that associated with
Falun Gong.
Why haven’t they? Protestant-related new religious movements have shared
Falun Gong’s ability to attract devotion through promises of healing, miracles
and personal transformation; as recalled at the beginning of this chapter, their
members have also held protests. While this is not the place for thorough soci-
ological analysis, it is worth observing several significant differences between
Falun Gong and Protestant-related movements here. First, Protestant-related
new religious movements have not attracted as much popular support as Falun
Gong. Falun Gong was fed by the ‘qigong fever’, which swept through China in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. ‘Protestant fever’ has also gripped China, but the
majority of those who have caught it have adopted evangelical Christianity
and regarded new religious movements as virulent. Qigong also enjoyed exten-
sive patronage from the media, military elites, and senior leaders of the State
Council,48 whereas despite China’s ‘cultural Christians’ (文化基督徒 wenhua
Jidutu), Protestantism and its heterodox progeny have lacked the elite and
media patronage that qigong once boasted. Finally, Falun Gong garnered inter-
national support after 1999 through allegations of human rights abuses at the
hands of the Chinese government. Although Zhao Weishan seemed to emulate
Li Hongzhi in moving to New York around the year 2000, Protestant-related
new religious movements have done little to shore up foreign sympathy. On
the contrary, Chinese Christians’ opposition to them has earned new religious
movements the wrath of Protestants overseas, too.
Second, Protestant-related new religious movements have hitherto had
access to fewer financial resources than Falun Gong. Clearly, they have the
resources to maintain transprovincial religious networks, support missionar-
ies and fund the production of literature, micro-videos and CDs. Yet whereas
Falun Gong received abundant revenue from training session admission fees
and the sale of qigong-related products, and many of its members were of
47 “Announcement from the First Division,” 69. I have found no evidence to corroborate
this specific allegation, though as demonstrated in chap. 3, Eastern Lightning did attach
eschatological expectations to the year 2000.
48 Palmer, Qigong Fever, 46–85.
132 CHAPTER 5
“considerable financial means,”49 Protestant-related new religious movements

have had no apparent source of income other than the voluntary contribu-
tions of believers within China—most of whom have been poor rural dwellers.
Recent reports suggest that this may be changing as movements gain a greater
following in urban areas, but to date, their monetary backing appears not to
have equaled that of Falun Gong.
Third, Eastern Lightning’s organizational structure has limited its involve-
ment in coordinated political activity. The doctrinal exclusivity of Protestant-
related new religious movements drastically limits the prospect of their
collaborating with other agents of dissent, which Chung, Lai and Xia advise
is crucial in assessing the threat they pose to government control.50 Moreover,
despite government reports of “tight organizational systems,” there is evidence
that the leadership of Protestant-related new religious movements is often
impotent to control the beliefs and activities of rank-and-file adherents. Eastern
Lightning has manifested diverging teachings pertaining to predictions about
the end of the world and miracles; the next chapter will also discuss how some
adherents transgress the central leadership’s explicit instructions against the
use of violence and kidnapping. In addition, the rural location, poverty, and
low educational attainment of most adherents has meant that these move-
ments have been less inclined to harness the power of technology to commu-
nicate and organize, again contrasting with Falun Gong.51
Finally, ideologically, Eastern Lightning’s depiction of China as dark and ret-
rograde and the CCP as the ‘big red dragon’ is subversive, but Eastern Lightning
also believes that it is ultimately divine rather than human agency that will
defeat evil.52 The kingdom of heaven is to descend upon believers rather than
be created by them, and they are called to spread the gospel rather than to
instigate a revolution. However much they may talk about hating the big red
dragon, adherents have hitherto appeared to be more concerned with reading
scriptures and converting acquaintances than with plotting against the gov-
ernment, as Eastern Lightning’s voluminous literature attests.
The Chinese government appeared to have become more cognizant of the
limits to Eastern Lightning’s potency as it made fewer public pronouncements
condemning Protestant-related new religious movements after 2004. While
49 James Tong, “An Organizational Analysis of the Falun Gong: Structure, Communications,
Financing,” China Quarterly 171 (2002): 656.
50 Chung, Lai, and Xia, “Mounting Challenges to Governance in China,” 25–26.
51 Cf. Tong, “Organizational Analysis of the Falun Gong,” 647.
52 On similar emphasis in popular Protestantism, see Brandner, “Trying to Make Sense of
History,” 87.
the government is by no means tolerant of these movements, denunciations

dwindled as the ‘Falun Gong problem’ subsided, consistent with the argument
that the discourse against Protestant-related new religious movements func-
tioned to support the campaign against Falun Gong.
Chinese academic literature on new religious movements saw a comparable
abatement.53 “Xiejiao” is now translated as “weird religious organization” in
the Criminal Law.54 In 2007 and 2009 the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
hosted conferences on new religious movements, but referred to the subject
using a new term—膜拜团体 mobai tuanti, literally “worship groups”—in
preference to xiejiao. While this may have reflected an attempt on the part of
Chinese academia to distance itself from xiejiao discourse, there were indica-
tions that the change was superficial rather than substantive. When recalling
the conference, one scholar from CASS’s Institute of World Religions did not
disown the ‘evil cult’ label but rather drew an equivalence between the two
terms.55 Further, she understood the conferences as being intended to enable
China to “establish its own voice” (建立自己的话语权 jianli ziji de huayu
quan) and “take the microphone” (积极争取话语权 jiji zhengqü huayu quan)
in the international academic arena.56 Chinese scholars have by no means
repudiated the term xiejiao, and are continuing their efforts to carve out a
legitimized space for it in international fora. Meanwhile, media reports con-
tinue to ridicule doomsday prophecies, and to warn of the ‘evil cult’ of Eastern
Lightning.
‘Evil Cults’ and State Regulation of Christianity
In addition to supporting the war on Falun Gong, the Chinese government’s

crackdown on Protestant-related new religious movements has affected its reg-
ulation of Protestantism. The government insists that its suppression of ‘evil
cults’ has no bearing on religious freedom or policy, and that since cults are not
religions but rather use religion or qigong, they fall beyond the constitutional
guarantee of religious freedom. Religions, this line of argument contends, have
a large and usually international following, a long history, and contribute to

54 “Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China.” Available at http://www.npc.gov.cn/
englishnpc/Law/2007–12/13/content_1384075.htm. Accessed August 28, 2013.
注新兴膜拜团体的破坏性因素,” 51.
56 Ibid.
134 CHAPTER 5
s ociety through good deeds, whereas cults have a short history, are centered on
an individual leader and are destructive.57
Consistent with this, government depictions of Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements emphasize their deviation from Christianity. An Anti-Cult
Association audiovisual presentation on the Three Grades of Servant move-
ment demonstrates the ‘cult’s’ distance from ‘normal’ (正常的 zhengchang de)
Protestantism both through its title (“Beware of illegal organizations abus-
ing the name of religion”), and by exposing its leader’s ignorance of Bible
stories.58 When quizzed by an interviewer, leader Xu Wenku cannot say where
Joseph and Mary lived before Jesus’ birth. In response to the question “On
which day do Christians celebrate Jesus entering the Holy City?” he first replies
“Christmas,” and proves unable to read the correct answer of “Palm Sunday”
when shown it in a book. When several of the inmates interviewed in the film
refer to the Three Grades of Servant using a term for a popular religious sect
(道 dao; also translated as “Way”), the film’s subtitles add the word “organiza-
tion” (组织 zuzhi) in explanatory parentheses after it, thereby repositioning
the movement as a clique rather than a religious association.59
Despite the state’s attempts to divorce its treatment of ‘evil cults’ from the
issue of religious freedom, the ‘cult’ label has sometimes functioned as legal
and political justification for the persecution of groups that are not registered
with SARA, but which are widely considered by Protestants both within China
and overseas to be orthodox. Early examples of this were the persecution of
evangelical house churches during the campaign against the Shouters in 1983–
4, and the labeling of the China Gospel Fellowship as a ‘cult’ by the Xinyang
County People’s Government in Henan in the late 1990s.60 In 1998—prior to
57 Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Zongjiao he xiejiao burong hunxiao 宗教和邪教不容混淆”

[Cults cannot be confused with religion], TF 6 (2000): 24–25; Chen Xingqiao (陈星桥),
“Zongjiao, xinxing zongjiao, xiejiao 宗教、新兴宗教、邪教” [Religions, new religious
movements, and evil cults], in 宗教、教派与邪教: 国际研讨会论文集, ed. Shehui
wenti yanjiu zongshu bianji weiyuanhui (社会问题研究丛书编辑委员会) (南宁: 广
西人民出版社, 2004).
58 Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Jingti maoyong zongjiao mingyi de
feifa zuzhi 警惕冒用宗教名义的非法组织.”
59 In keeping with this, neither prosecution nor defense counsel raised the issue of religious
persecution during the trials of the Three Grades of Servant leaders on murder charges in
2006. Rather, they described it as “just an ordinary criminal case.” See Kuhn, “China Gives
Christian Trio Death Terms in Killings.”
60 “From the Dairy (sic) of a Traveller: Churches in Zhumadian and Zhoukou, Henan,” Bridge
86 (1997): 10; Shen Xianfeng, “Accused Leader Responds to Charge: Are We Truly a Cult?,”
CSJ 13, no. 2 (1998): 60–62; “Christian Group Labelled as a Cult,” CSJ 13, no. 2 (1998): 59–60;
the escalation of tensions between the state and Falun Gong—house churches
therefore saw fit to issue a joint statement in which they defended their faith
as “orthodox” and appealed to the government to “no longer mistake [them]
for cults.”61
After the confrontation between Falun Gong and the Chinese government,
the mislabeling became even more prevalent. As the United States Commission
on International Freedom concluded in 2006:
The campaign against ‘evil cults’ has, in recent years, expanded beyond
the Falun Gong and similar groups to those religious communities that
have refused to register and become part of the system of officially-
sanctioned religious organizations. This campaign has targeted lead-
ers and members of newer, as well as long-established, Protestant and
Catholic groups which, for various reasons, have not registered with the
government.62
The websites of the China Aid Association and the Committee for Investigation
on Persecution of Religion in China [sic]—both US-based organizations that
publicize the cause of persecuted Christians in China—cite instances of house
churches being labeled as ‘evil cults’ (邪教 xiejiao) by public security person-
nel, from which persecution or abuse often follows.63 These include members
of the China Gospel Fellowship, and other, smaller churches who protest their
theological orthodoxy in public statements of faith.64
“Bar Urged on Illegal Crackdown,” CSJ 15, no. 1 (2000): 95; Lambert, China’s Christian
Millions, 94–96.
the Three-Self Movement,” CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 60.
62 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, “U.S.C.I.R.F.
Annual Report 2006: China.” Available at http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/
rwmain?docid=4855698023. Accessed May 26, 2010.
63 The web addresses of these organizations are http://www.chinaaid.org and http://www
.china21.org respectively.
64 China Aid Association (对华援助协会), “Three Christians Sentenced to One Year of
Re-Education through Labor in Zhoukou, Henan.” Available at http://www.chinaaid
.org/2009/01/three-christians-sentenced-to-one-year.html. Accessed August 13, 2013;
China Aid Association (对华援助协会), “Shuozhou Pastor’s Home Destroyed: 6 Christian
Leaders Detained.” Available at http://www.chinaaid.org/2010/01/shuozhou-pastor-
home-destroyed-6.html. Accessed August 13, 2013. See also Teresa Wright and Teresa
Zimmerman-Liu, “Engaging and Evading the Party-State: Unofficial Chinese Protestant
Groups in China’s Reform Era,” China: An International Journal 11, no. 1 (2013): 10.
136 CHAPTER 5
Government and some academic sources additionally discredit unofficial

Protestant churches by identifying practices in which they engage as ‘cultic.’ Xu
Lai’en, the son of the man said to have founded the All Sphere Church / Born
Again Sect, accused the government of drawing equivalence between prosely-
tizing and “poisoning people with an evil cult,” and “encouraging people to
evangelize” and “preventing them from working.”65 In the CACA presentation
on the Disciples, the fact that the group meets clandestinely in unauthorized
venues is presented as evidence of its ‘cultic’ nature, but unregistered churches
also do this to evade government persecution. Likewise, state emphasis on
the deleterious effects of miracles and visions (as in the case of Sun Ruidong)
could be interpreted as an attempt to discredit all charismatic expressions of
Protestantism. In some cases, Christian practices that are advocated even by
the TSPM are implicated—the CACA film on the Disciples emphasized the cost
to adherents of tithing ten percent of their income to the ‘cult’, for example.66
Even some of the largest groups the government labels as ‘evil cults’ have
claimed to be Christian, and to be the victims of mislabeling. Xu Lai’en
described his father as “China’s Billy Graham” and “the leader of one of the larg-
est house churches in China.”67 The daughter of the leader of the Three Grades
of Servant group similarly defended her father as “a true Christian” and his
church as practicing “a very pure form of Christianity.”68 Government sources
respond by acknowledging that members of groups classed as ‘evil cults’
often identify themselves as Protestant, but dismiss their claim to o rthodoxy.69
Hence, the boundaries between ‘house church’ and ‘new religious movement’
are hotly contested.
Given this, we must consider the possibility that the label of ‘evil cult flaunt-
ing the Protestant banner’ functions in the way that ‘White Lotus (白蓮教
Bailian jiao)’ did in the late sixteenth century. As Barend ter Haar has dem-
onstrated, this was a “pseudo-autonym” used by officials and literati to legiti-
mize the suppression of an array of rebellious sects.70 In other words, we must
65 Xu Lai’en (徐來恩), “Wode fuqin zenme le? 我的父親怎麼了?,” 18.
67 Xu Lai’en (徐來恩), “Wode fuqin zenme le? 我的父親怎麼了?”, 18.
68 Kuhn, “China Gives Christian Trio Death Terms in Killings.”
69 For example, the voiceover to the CACA presentation about the Disciples states that new-
comers to the group believe that it is Protestant, but a police officer rejects their claim to
the religion. Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Jiechuan pianju, kuang-
zheng quxie 揭穿骗局，匡正祛邪.”
70 ter Haar, White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, 196ff. Following ter Haar,
Palmer has suggested that in the 1950s, “Yiguandao” 一贯道 may similarly have been used
c onsider whether groups such as the Three Grades of Servant actually exist
and if so, whether they are truly destructive, or whether they are a state fab-
rication and mere labels used to legitimize the extirpation of religious groups
that offend it.
The government imposes organizational names that differ from the autonyms
used by these groups—All Sphere Church for the Born Again Movement and,
until recently, Eastern Lightning for Church of Almighty God. Government and
mainstream depictions of new religious movements also differ from their self-
representations. However, the existence of these new religious movements is
evidenced in many cases by their own literature or websites, and in others by a
gamut of Protestant and government reports that condemn them for heretical
beliefs and abusive deeds. Even the China Aid Association, which reprimands
the government for wielding the ‘evil cult’ label indiscriminately, describes
Eastern Lightning as “a violent cult” and “very harmful . . . to Christian churches
and society,”71 constituting an independent affirmation of the government’s
depiction of this group; the Shouwang Protestant Church, which has been
subject to crackdowns, also rejects Eastern Lightning.72 The concentration
of reports around the year 2000 and evidence of chiliastic anticipation from
Eastern Lightning sources also suggests that new religious movements may
indeed have been particularly active around the time of the state’s crackdown
against Falun Gong. Thus, the existence of groups such as Eastern Lightning is
not purely an illusion propagated by the state. Nevertheless, while it is difficult
to ascertain the extent of the problem, Chinese government organs and public
security officers have mislabeled some Protestant groups as ‘evil cults’, result-
ing in their persecution. Despite the state’s attempts to present the label of
xiejiao as “objective and scientific”73 and to distance it from issues of religious
persecution, the ‘cult problem’ is connected to state control of religion.
to prescribe a course of action to be taken by authorities rather than being an accurate

reflection of affiliation. Palmer, “Heretical Doctrines,” 123–24.
71 China Aid Association (对华援助协会), “Annual Report of Persecution by the
Government on Christian House Churches within Mainland China, January 2009–
December 2009.” Available at http://www.purdue.edu/crcs/itemResources/NGO/China
aidreports/chinaaidreportE2009.pdf. Accessed August 13, 2013.
72 Zhao Zhou (赵周), “Dang yiduan chuxian zai xiaozu 当异端出现在小组” [When her-
esies appear in cell groups]. Available at https://t2.shwchurch.org/2013/01/30/当异端出
现在小组赵周/. Accessed September 11, 2014.
138 CHAPTER 5
Conclusion
State reports of Protestant-related new religious movements seldom invoke

comparisons with the Taipings or other heterodox religions of the late imperial
era, probably because CCP historiography has tended to portray the latter as
heroic forerunners in the struggle against imperialism.74 Yet while the state has
attempted to present its response to Eastern Lightning and other new religious
movements as modern and clinical, it is steeped in history, as in the case of the
term xiejiao. As if acknowledging the salience of late imperial precedent, the
homepage of the Chinese Anti-Cult Association bears images of the Temple
of Heaven and Forbidden City.75 Occasionally, the link between Protestant-
related new religious movements and their antecedents is made more explic-
itly. In the CACA film, a police officer alleges that when two hundred members
of the Disciples surrounded a local government building in Inner Mongolia in
July 2006 they shouted a slogan chanted by the Taiping rebels some 150 years
earlier.76 In other sources, the Disciples are said to “try to bring about dynastic
change,” “clamor for toppling the present emperor, changing the dynasty and
establishing a man of the new mandate.”77 It is not clear whether these state-
ments represent continuity in the political aspirations of new religious move-
ments, or the denunciation of them by state representatives, or a combination
of both. Whether sectarians are repeating history in chanting these slogans, or
officials in their accusations, the history of heterodoxy in China continues to
shape the conflict between the government and Protestant-related new reli-
gious movements.
74 Palmer observes that White Lotus rebellions were treated favorably for this reason in
Communist historiography in the 1960s and 1970s. Ibid., 125.
75 http://www.cnfxj.org/. Accessed September 26, 2014.
76 “We will cross the Ma’an Stream and create a bloodbath at Matou Mountain; We will take
the throne, and ride into Xi’an.” (“踏平马鞍川，血洗马头山；要想坐王位，骑马到
西安 taping Ma’an chuan, xuexi Matou shan, yao xiang zuo wangwei, qi ma dao Xi’an.”)
Chinese Anti-Cult Association (中国反邪教协会), “Jiechuan pianju, kuangzheng quxie
77 Hunan Provincial Lianghui, “Circular: Concerning Supporting the Government to Ban the
‘Disciple Church’ and Doing Well to Clean Up the Church,” Bridge 75 (1996 [1995]): 12–13.
CHAPTER 6
he Art of Persuasion: Eastern Lightning’s

T
Recruitment Strategies
A month after Eastern Lightning’s Almighty God resumed speaking in February

1991,1 his words were being proclaimed in Henan province.2 A decade later,
Time magazine estimated Eastern Lightning’s followers to number “some-
where in the tens of thousands,” and a decade after that, the group claimed to
have proselytized over a million people in north China.3 Fifty people converted
to the religion at a wedding, seventy-eight heard the message at a market in
one morning, four hundred in a factory one evening, and two thousand in a
school.4 In 2014, the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Anti-Cult Association esti-
mated that the movement had several million followers.5 While it is impossible
to ascertain just how many members Eastern Lightning has due to its illegal
status, there is agreement that, true to its name, Eastern Lightning’s teachings
have spread rapidly across Chinese Protestant communities.
This growth reflects the importance of proselytizing in both Eastern
Lightning texts and individuals’ religious practice over the past twenty years.
Eastern Lightning’s texts present proselytizing as a duty for all believers. Its
ninth commandment instructs followers to set aside their earthly ambitions
and “throw your whole heart and being into God’s work. Give priority to God’s
work and put your own life second.”6 A sermon reiterates:
Everyone has a responsibility to testify to God, not only those who are
evangelists, but also church leaders; everyone has this responsibility and
1 The date of February 11, 1991, is given in “Neirong jianjie 内容简介 [Overview],” in hard
copy of Church of Almighty God, Hua zai roushen xianxian 话在肉身显现 [The Word has
appeared in the flesh], 2.
2 Xu Shengyi (许圣义), “Jingti pi zongjiao waiyide fandong zuzhi 警惕披宗教外衣的反动
组织 [Beware of reactionary organizations in religious garb],” TF 5 (1992): 24.
3 Church of Almighty God, “Gei ge di jiaohui shen xuanmin de yifeng xin 给各地教会神选民
的一封信.”
4 Ibid.
5 Wang Yusheng (王渝生), “ ‘Quannengshen’ xue’an jingxing shiren‘全能神’ 血案警醒世人”
[“Almighty God” murder puts people on alert], 科学世界 7 (2014): 87.
6 “Ten Administrative Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Obey,” in Church of Almighty God,
The Word Has Appeared in the Flesh (short title: WAF), contents p. 4, item 63.

140 CHAPTER 6
a part to play . . . Ideally, those who are not full-time evangelists will be

able to save at least one or two people, and thus have a share in God’s
work of expansion.7
This is consistent with a strong norm of proselytizing in Chinese Protestantism.8

While the state prohibits citizens from “compelling” others to believe9 and
stipulates that “No religious organization or believer should propagate or
preach religion outside places designated for religious services,”10 the exponential
growth of Protestantism since the late 1970s could not have occurred without
millions of believers actively promoting their faith, seeking to persuade their
friends, family, colleagues and strangers of its veracity and efficacy. In interac-
tions with Eastern Lightning, however, the roles are reversed as Protestants
become the proselytized. Eastern Lightning views all outside the movement
as bound for hell, but focuses on evangelizing Protestants and members of
Protestant-related new religious movements because they are thought less
likely than the general population to inform the authorities of their activities,
and no doubt also due to cultural and religious similarities.11
This chapter investigates the techniques that Eastern Lightning uses to
recruit Protestants to the religion. I introduce four different methods, informa-
tion about each of which can be gleaned from four different texts. First, Eastern
Lightning evangelists travel to areas of China where the group has little or no
presence in order to establish new congregations. Second, they adopt a clan-
destine approach that sees recruiters covertly gathering information on poten-
tial converts, and relying upon cultivated networks of social relations to attract
them. Third, Eastern Lightning adherents distribute literature— notably,
7 “Shixing zhenli yu ren dang jin de benfen 实行真理与人当尽的本分” [Practicing the

truth and the part that people should play], in Church of Almighty God, Jidu yu jiaohui
gongren de zuotan jiyao 基督与教会工人的座谈纪要 [A record of Christ’s discussions
with church workers], contents p. 2, item 6.
8 I use the terms “recruitment,” “proselytizing,” and “evangelism” interchangeably. While
the first of these is preferred by sociologists and the latter two by English-speaking
religious groups, all refer to the process of disseminating teachings and encouraging
people to adopt them. Eastern Lightning follows Chinese Protestants in using the terms “
传道 chuan dao” (literally, “spreading the Word”) or “传福音 chuan fuyin” (“spreading the
gospel”).
9 Article 36 in National People’s Congress, “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China.”
10 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “Document 19,” 18.
11 Technically, non-Christians (referred to as “Gentiles” [外邦人 waibang ren]) may also be
recruited. In practice, however, I have found no account of a person lacking prior affilia-
tion with a Christian-related group joining Eastern Lightning.
The Art Of Persuasion 141
anecdotes of divine retribution and visions of supernatural p henomena—to

persuade their audience to trust in the Female Christ. Finally, some adherents
evidently resort to abduction and violence. Examining each of these four meth-
ods of proselytizing—using migration, networks, literature and coercion—
equips us to evaluate government and Protestant reports of Eastern Lightning,
and yields insights into the activities and culture of both the movement and
the environment in which it operates.
Migrating Evangelists
Eastern Lightning’s Plans for Church Life in 2006 stated that “the Gospel Work
has basically finished in the vast area of the central plains,” presumably mean-
ing that their message had been preached throughout the movement’s strong-
holds of Henan and Anhui, but “there is still much Work to be done in the
outlying provinces, which will require at least two or three years to complete.”12
Consequently, evangelists have been sent as far afield as Gansu and Xinjiang,
and also to southern China, although Protestant sources indicate that Eastern
Lightning activity remains most intense in Henan and Anhui provinces.
In Eastern Lightning, migrating or itinerant evangelists are usually women
over the age of thirty. They leave their homes and husbands, children and pos-
sibly parents, and travel to other villages or distant provinces, where they may
lodge with local Eastern Lightning “host families” (接待家庭 jiedai jiating)
for months or even years. While it is unclear just what proportion of Eastern
Lightning believers embark upon migratory or peripatetic evangelism (as
opposed to evangelism within their local communities), anecdotal evidence
from Eastern Lightning and Protestant sources—together with the impres-
sive growth of the movement across the nation—suggests that it is c ommon.
Despite this, the practice does not rate a mention in Eastern Lightning’s
scripture, The Word Appears in the Flesh. Rather, information about it is to be
found in plans written by church leadership, and the testimonies of individual
adherents.
Evangelism is presented in Eastern Lightning sources as “repaying God’s
love” (还报神的爱 huanbao shen de ai), and as one of several tasks that an
adherent can undertake to “offer their duty” (尽本分 jin benfen; perhaps better
12 Reprinted in .pdf version of Church of Almighty God, Guanyu jiaohui gongzuo de jiaotong
jiangdao yu jiaohui gongzuo anpai linian huibian 关于教会工作的交通讲道与教会
工作安排历年汇编 [Compilation of plans and talks concerning church work over the
years; short title: 关于教会工作].
142 CHAPTER 6
translated as “do their bit”).13 The hymn “Leave Home and Do Your Bit” pro-
motes evangelism through the following lyrics:
Oh, my God; Oh, my God

When I recall your work, I feel your love and tenderness.
Oh, my brothers; Oh, my sisters;
When we are far apart, I think of you often.
Oh, my hometown; Oh, my church

I yearn for the church life in my hometown.
Oh, my God; Oh, my God
Only by your Word keeping me company have I grown into maturity.
Leave home and do your bit, experience the hardship of God’s work
Leave home and do your bit, understand more truths
Leave home and do your bit, learn how to live independently
Leave home and do your bit, repay God’s love.14
As the hymn reflects, migrating evangelists may be faced with homesickness,

culture shock and language difficulties. The author of the following testimony
was sent from Xuchang city in Henan to Xinjiang, and writes of the difficulty
she had in leaving her family:
In February 2003, our leader wanted me to go to Xinjiang to help in the

Work. Although I reluctantly agreed, I was afraid: Xinjiang is so far from
home! It’s not as if I could come back after a couple of months. If I go,
who will look after my child? He’s only 15. He can’t look after himself—
he’s never even washed a pair of socks.15
13 Others may become itinerant by virtue of practical necessity as much as religious piety;
Eastern Lightning material comments that “there are so many people who are wanted
and hounded by the Communist Party of China and cannot go home, so they can only
drift about expending for God” (sic). Church of Almighty God, About Us, 4.
14 Hymn no. 271: “Likai jia jin benfen 离开家尽本分 [Leave home and do your bit],” in
Church of Almighty God, Gensuizhe gaoyang chang xin’ge 跟随着羔羊唱新歌.
15 Zhen Zhen (真真), “29: 神话带我走出情感” [God’s word helped me to leave my emo-
tions behind], in Church of Almighty God, Jidu shenpan taiqian de jianzheng 基督审
判台前的见证 [Given English title: Witnessing Before the Judgment Seat of Christ].
Formerly available at http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/jiaoliu/section10/0029.php. Accessed
August 19, 2010.
In addition to family considerations, security issues weigh heavily on the minds

of evangelists. Eastern Lightning is an illegal organization and of extreme polit-
ical sensitivity, and adherents are well aware of the proscribed nature of their
activities. The situation is particularly precarious for migrating evangelists,
whose arrival in a close-knit community may attract attention. To minimize
the likelihood of being caught, Eastern Lightning evangelists, like adherents of
other new religious movements, are instructed in church documents to adopt
aliases (referred to as ‘new names’ or 新名 xinming) and, where possible, to
forge personal identity cards, use only public telephones, and conceal their
evangelistic literature.16 Despite these measures, the assiduous threat of perse-
cution seems to have a great psychological and practical impact. One woman
responsible for hosting evangelists, for example, tells of her concern that one
of her guests made too much noise when brushing her teeth and washing her
face, and that the sound of her heavy footsteps in the house might betray her
presence to authorities or neighbors.17
The vulnerability exposed in these narratives contrasts with government
and Protestant accounts of Eastern Lightning. The latter frequently depict
recruiters as calculating, ruthless and predatory, yet Eastern Lightning evange-
lists report an initial reluctance to embark on their assignments. Hundreds of
Eastern Lightning testimonies in the compilation Testimonies of Experiencing
the Judgment of the Word of Christ (经历基督话语审判刑罚的见证 Jingli
Jidu huayu shenpan xingfa de jianzheng) begin with the evangelist recalling
hardships experienced in the course of their ministry, which tempted them
to consider abandoning their mission or even their faith. However, they then
realized that their attitude was erroneous (usually after praying, reading a por-
tion of Eastern Lightning scripture, or speaking with church leaders). They
come to see their misgivings as selfish and disloyal to God, and resolve to “offer
their duty” whatever it takes. An adherent from Henan, for example, writes
as follows:
16 Church of Almighty God, Jiaohui gongzuo yuanze shouce 教会工作原则手册 [Handbook
of principles for church work]. Baptismal names were usually used among Christian neo-
phytes in China in the mid-eighteenth century in order to avoid persecution, though it is
not clear whether this custom has had any direct relation to Eastern Lightning’s practice.
See Laamann, Christian Heretics in Late Imperial China, 43.
17 Wang Ling (王玲), “25: Shenhua zhuanbianle wode guandian 25: 神话转变了我的观点”
[25: God’s Word changed my perspective], in Church of Almighty God, 基督审判台前的
见证 [Given English title: Witnessing Before the Judgment Seat of Christ]. Formerly avail-
able at http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/jiaoliu/section13/0025.php. Accessed August 19,
2010; now defunct.
144 CHAPTER 6
On July 23, 2003, I was at a sister’s house on a visit, and at that time the
sister’s niece was also there. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the little girl’s
father came to fetch her. But she cried her eyes out and was unwilling to
leave, screaming, “Mama! Mama!” . . . The sister’s whole family shed tears.
Then I felt perplexed, and I asked the sister what the matter was. She said,
“Her mother has run away with another man, and her two children are
left uncared for. Children without a mother are so pitiful.”
The evangelist thought of her own daughter, who was the same age as the little
girl, and became distressed:
I was unwilling to perform my duty anymore; I only wanted to go home

immediately to make up for my indebtedness to her. But I was afraid of
offending God’s nature to incur punishment . . . Just then God’s words
guided me within. . . . What is man? Aren’t my daughter’s life and my life
in God’s hand [sic]? . . . I felt deeply that emotion is indeed my fatal cor-
ruption, because it may cause me to alienate myself from God and for-
sake God at critical moments.18
These testimonies are distributed among Eastern Lightning adherents, and

thus have a didactic function. Believers are taught that their own suffering is
insignificant, and that they must be willing to make extreme sacrifices for the
sake the movement. Far from being heartless manipulators, these evangelists
show frailty and fear. This said, the ability of Eastern Lightning to command
and mobilize loyalty in the face of such misgivings indicates the organizational
and motivational strength of the movement—just some of the features which
so trouble the CCP.
Itinerant evangelism has been practiced by Chinese Christians since the
late eighteenth century, when peripatetic professionals such as merchants,
doctors, and barbers disseminated their beliefs in marketplaces.19 In the nine-
teenth century Protestant missionaries toured markets and temple fairs in rural
areas, often accompanied by Chinese ‘Bible women.’20 Itinerant and migratory
18 Li Xiao’ai, “1: God’s Word Freed Me from the Bondage of Emotions,” in Church of Almighty
God, Testimonies of Experiencing the Judgment of the Word of Christ, contents p. 1, item 1.
20 Lee, Bible and the Gun, 57; Margo S. Gewurtz, “The ‘Jesus Sect’ and ‘Jesus Opium’: Creating
a Christian Community in Rural North Honan, 1890–1912,” in The Chinese Face of Jesus
Christ, vol. 2, ed. Roman Malek (Sankt Augustin, Germany: Institut Monumenta Serica,
2002), 688–91.
evangelism continue to be practiced in contemporary Chinese Protestantism.

Whereas TSPM preachers are constrained by government restrictions concern-
ing the area within which they are permitted to preach,21 house church evan-
gelists have been far more willing to travel.22
The most coordinated program of migratory evangelism in contemporary
Chinese churches is the Back to Jerusalem movement. This began in the 1940s
among students of the Northwest Bible Institute in Shaanxi province who
aimed to spread the gospel to Xinjiang and Gansu and, eventually, into the
Islamic world. Some contemporary house church leaders have revived this
vision, and find significance in their belief that since Jesus’ time, the gospel
has spread in a westerly direction from Jerusalem. These Protestants believe
that Jesus will return when the “fire of the gospel” has circled the globe, and
that “God has given us a solemn responsibility to take the fire from his altar
and complete the Great Commission by establishing his kingdom in all of the
remaining countries and people groups in Asia, the Middle East and Islamic
North Africa.”23 Eastern Lightning retains the Chinese Protestant vision of
sending the gospel from east to west, and its practice of dispatching missionar-
ies throughout the nation. It does, however, appear to exert an unprecedented
degree of pressure upon its evangelists to ‘do their bit’ for the organization and
their Almighty God. Some believers are reluctant to go, but their concerns are
dismissed as they are told to sacrifice all in order to prove their loyalty to God,
and bring more people before Him. Evidently, many are successful in their
endeavor.
“Sounding Out”
Protestants accuse Eastern Lightning evangelists of habitual deception. The

proselytizers are said often to pretend to be Protestants, participating in church
communities for the sole purpose of cultivating goodwill with potential con-
verts. Only then do they reveal themselves to be Eastern Lightning believers
21 Bays, “Growth of Independent Christianity in China,” 314–16.

22 Karrie J. Koesel, “The Rise of a Chinese House Church: The Organizational Weapon,” China
Quarterly 215 (2013): 578; Vala and O’Brien, “Attraction without Networks,” 90; Lambert,
China’s Christian Millions, 68, 163, 171–72.
23 Paul Hattaway et al., Back to Jerusalem: Called to Complete the Great Commission (Carlisle,
UK: Piquant, 2003), 26, 29 (quote at 26). See also backtojerusalem.com, which references
the 1920s. Christians use the term “Great Commission” (大使命 da shiming) to refer to
Jesus instructing his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19–20).
146 CHAPTER 6
and urge their acquaintances to join the movement. A man who followed
Eastern Lightning for a short time before returning to Protestantism recalled:
Before we accepted this ‘True Way’ [真道 zhen dao], Xiao Zhang
and her companions pretended to be Protestants who loyally loved the
Lord. When eating they said grace in Jesus’ name; when preaching they
prayed in Jesus’ name. They were cordial in speech, and when reading
and preaching the Bible they talked about the circumstances of each
church.24
Since Protestants have expressed strong interest in discrediting Eastern

Lightning, allegations of underhand tactics must be met with caution.
However, they are supported to some extent by sources emanating from
Eastern Lightning, which suggest that the movement’s unusual tactics have
been developed to reconcile the conflicting imperatives of evangelism and
personal security in the face of hostile political and religious authorities.
In the first few years of the new millennium, Chinese Protestants claimed
to have obtained a copy of an internal Eastern Lightning document entitled
Detailed instructions for sounding out and paving the way (摸底铺路细则
Modi pulu xize), which is a set of instructions to church members concerning
proselytizing strategy. The vocabulary and content of this document is con-
sistent with other Eastern Lightning materials,25 and also with Protestants’
descriptions of Eastern Lightning’s activities and a Time journalist’s description
of a “missionary manual” given to Eastern Lightning’s “most trusted members.”26
The title of the document refers to two phases in Eastern Lightning’s recruit-
ment process. First:
‘Sounding out’ involves using every available means and personal con-
nection to infiltrate churches of all denominations, establishing rela-
tionships with people and winning their trust and goodwill, in order to
24 Wei Dao (卫道), “Wo ceng shou dongfang shandian jia xianzhi mihuo 我曾受东方闪电
假先知迷惑” [I was once deceived by Eastern Lightning’s false prophets], TF 3 (2000): 24.
Similarly, Xi Men (西门), Jingti yiduan xin dongxiang “警惕异端新动向” [Beware of new
trends in heretical groups], TF 3 (2010): 28.
25 See Church of Almighty God, 关于教会工作.
26 Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s Chinese.” Forney describes this manual as instructing
adherents to “start slowly, lend money, convince converts that God’s work is incomplete
and, finally, that doomsday is coming and Jesus has arrived to complete that work.” All of
this is contained in Eastern Lightning’s Detailed Instructions.
understand their internal affairs and lay a good foundation for witnessing
to others or the witnessing work.27
The Detailed Instructions proceed to reveal that working either alone or in

groups of two or three, Eastern Lightning recruiters are to conceal their reli-
gious affiliation and insert themselves into a Protestant church, building rela-
tionships within the local congregation and assessing members’ receptivity to
their message over several months or even years. They are instructed to avoid
using Eastern Lightning jargon such as “eating and drinking God’s word,” “work
principles” and “punishment and judgment,”28 and are rather to behave like
“normal” Protestants (by frequently quoting from the Bible, for example) so as
to avoid suspicion of being heretical. The reader is also encouraged to cultivate
goodwill with Protestants by helping with household chores or supplying mod-
est gifts of food.29
As they infiltrate Protestant churches, evangelists are instructed to ascertain
the denomination and size of the congregation, meeting times, the “quality”
(素质 suzhi)30 of the members, leaders and preachers, and the extent of their
knowledge about Eastern Lightning. They are also to discover the age, level
of education, and home addresses of church leaders, and to make note of the
most enthusiastic members of the congregations—those who arrive early and
leave late, who sit up the front armed with notebooks, pray and sing out loud,
who do not fall asleep during church services, and are familiar with the books
of the Bible. All such information is to be obtained through discreetly observ-
ing, so as not to arouse Protestants’ suspicion.31 Eastern Lightning’s Handbook
of Principles for Church Work corroborates this as it instructs those in charge
of evangelism to encourage members to “use every available means to obtain
intelligence” on potential recruits, and “for those to whom the gospel can be
spread, research the case and find ways to win them over.”32
27 Church of Almighty God, “摸底铺路细则” [Detailed instructions for sounding out and
paving the way] in 防备辩驳异端 [Guard against and refute heresy], ed. China Gospel
Fellowship, 170.
28 Ibid., 172.
29 Ibid., 170, 172.
30 On suzhi see discussion and references on pp. 65 & 67 of this book.
paving the way], in 防备辩驳异端 [Guard against and refute heresy], ed. China Gospel
Fellowship, 171–72.
32 Church of Almighty God, 教会工作原则手册.
148 CHAPTER 6
In some cases, the operator responsible for the “sounding out” phase
of recruitment quietly withdraws from the church but passes intelligence
on to a second line of evangelists, who then arrive armed with information
about Protestants’ background and prospective receptivity to their message.33
Testimonies from Eastern Lightning adherents are candid about collecting
information on individuals thought likely to be open to the Eastern Lightning
gospel (dubbed “leads” 线索 xiansuo), and of passing their details on to a
“second line” (二线 erxian) of evangelists who then swoop in and explain the
movement’s teachings at a later date.34
When the Eastern Lightning recruiter has accumulated a working knowl-
edge of the church and its members and established cordial relationships
with them, either she or other Eastern Lightning evangelists begin to tenta-
tively question her Christian friends’ faith, and gradually proceed to introduce
Eastern Lightning’s beliefs. As the Detailed Instructions explain,
‘Paving the way’ refers to speaking some truths to change people’s think-
ing (转观念 zhuan guannian) after establishing relationships but before
witnessing. [It refers to] harnessing those ideas, thoughts and under-
standings that are easily compatible with God, and filling in the truths
they have missed. Any conceptions that conflict with God should be
resolved and put to rest, enabling them to humbly seek and investigate
God’s work.35
33 For Protestant reports of Eastern Lightning’s use of “scouts,” see Wei Ze (威泽), “Dongfang
shandian” you wan xin huayang‘东方闪电’ “ 又玩新花样” [“Eastern Lightning” changes
its tricks again], TF 8 (2002): 43; Zhu Ning (朱宁), “Jielou ‘dongfang shandian’ xie’e de ben-
zhi 揭露‘东方闪电’ 邪恶的本质” [Exposing the evil nature of “Eastern Lightning”],
TF 8 (2003): 17. From Eastern Lightning, see Church of Almighty God, “Shangmian jieda
wenti de huixin: daodi zenyang chuan fuyin jianzheng shen cai he shen xinyi 上面解
答问题的回信：到底怎样传福音见证神才合神心意” [Reply from the top to a ques-
tion: How to spread the gospel and testify to God in accordance with His intention].
34 Wang Lin (王琳), “96: 我不再仰望人了” [96: I no longer look up to people], in Church
of Almighty God, Jidu shenpan taiqian de jianzheng 基督审判台前的见证 [Given
English title: Witnessing before the judgment seat of Christ]. Formerly available at http://
chinese.thelordsadvent.org/jiaoliu/section7/0096.php (current as of August 19, 2010; now
defunct).
paving the way] in 防备辩驳异端 [Guard against and refute heresy], ed. China Gospel
Fellowship, 174.
The Detailed Instructions suggest that discussion may be initiated by complain-

ing about the church, commenting on the emptiness of the human heart, noting
signs that the times are changing, or pondering God’s will for people through
different ages. When judged to be safe and appropriate, the Eastern Lightning
teachings are then introduced. However, aspects of Eastern Lightning’s doc-
trine that may be more difficult to accept—such as the punishment of unbe-
lievers in the afterlife and the identification of the Chinese Communist Party
with the devil—are often shared only once the target has converted to Eastern
Lightning.36 Conversion itself is a matter simply of declaring one’s personal
belief. No sources mention any rite of initiation, and Eastern Lightning testi-
monies describe conversion in short, matter-of-fact phrases such as “I finally
understood.”37
Why has Eastern Lightning adopted the remarkable tactic of “sounding
out”? First, it minimizes the risk of persecution—social bonds reassure the
recruiter that the target is unlikely to turn them in to authorities. The risks
associated with proselytizing on behalf of Eastern Lightning are considerable.
While the state has demonstrated a willingness to turn a blind eye to the activi-
ties of some house churches in recent years, groups branded ‘heterodox teach-
ings’ or ‘evil cults’ such as Eastern Lightning are another matter. Evangelists are
likely to be subjected to severe ostracism and persecution if discovered, and so
must be even more prudent than the average Protestant about revealing their
religious affiliation.
Numerous references throughout Eastern Lightning documents demon-
strate a concern for security. The Handbook instructs adherents to focus on
attracting Protestants from house churches rather than TSPM churchgoers, as
the latter are thought to be more likely to report Eastern Lightning to public
security agents.38 One essay, for example, states “we have all seen that the pas-
tors and the elders of the Three-Self churches rely on the power of the state to
persecute and arrest those who preach God’s end-time gospel.”39 Believers are
to meet only in small groups, and leaders should consider vacating their homes
to evade arrest. Members are advised to avoid contact with fellow believers
36 Ibid., 183.

37 For example, testimony number 55 in Church of Almighty God: Shengling yindao ren
guixiang quannengshen de jianzheng 圣灵引导人归向全能神的见证 [Testimonies to
the Holy Spirit’s guiding people to turn to the Almighty God].
38 Church of Almighty God, 教会工作原则手册, chap. 4.
39 “Question 53,” in Church of Almighty God, Answering 100 Questions Related to the Bible.
Formerly available at http://english.hidden-advent.org/questions/0053.php. Accessed
August 20, 2010.
150 CHAPTER 6
who have been detained during the previous six months lest they have become
police informants; other security measures include changing cell phone num-
bers frequently and concealing religious affiliation from non-believing family
members.40
In addition to shielding the evangelist from persecution, Eastern Lightning
uses the strategy of “sounding out” because it has proven to be effective in
building relationships with Protestants, which in turn is conducive to their
recruitment. The Handbook attributes the movement’s growth to the influ-
ence of networks of relationships (关系 guanxi): for example, it states that
“the people we gain are sourced mainly from newcomers’ guanxi networks.”41
Therefore, it exhorts, “we must make good use of newcomers’ guanxi networks
so as to bring even more people in,” and, further, elevates this to the status of
“the main tactic for evangelism.”42 Consistent with this, Chinese accounts of
new religious movements often report that they spread “relative-to-relative,
friend-to-friend.”43
In advocating the use of networks and “sounding out” over more open and
public approaches, Eastern Lightning instinctively recognizes the observation
of sociologists that conversion is a matter of “coming to accept the opinions
of one’s friends”44 and “People will convert to cults to the extent that their
attachments to members outweigh their attachments to outsiders.”45 However,
on the basis of their study of recruitment to unofficial Protestant groups in
northeast China, Carsten Vala and Kevin O’Brien have proposed that social
bonds “sometimes matter less for drawing a person into a movement’s orbit
than for completing conversion.”46 They have observed that Protestants suc-
cessfully use mass appeals, public places and cold calling to generate inter-
est in their religion, and that social networks often come into play later in the
recruitment process than is commonly argued by researchers.47 In the case of
Eastern Lightning, however, social bonds may be much more important due
to the greater security concerns associated with belonging to groups branded

41 Ibid. See also Church of Almighty God, 关于教会工作, 502.
42 Ibid.
43 Of the Lord God’s teachings, for example, see China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契),
防备辩驳异端, 110.
44 John Lofland and Rodney Stark, “Becoming a World-Saver: A Theory of Conversion to a
Deviant Perspective,” American Sociological Review 30, no. 6 (1965): 871.
45 Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, Religion, Deviance, and Social Control (New
York: Routledge, 1996), 105.
46 Vala and O’Brien, “Attraction without Networks,” 79.
47 Ibid., passim.
as ‘cults’ by the state and heretical by Protestants. While a few bold evangelists
may knock on the doors of strangers or stand on street corners, this is less
likely to occur in locales where officials are zealous and the risk of persecution
is high.
Indeed, as a crackdown on the group commenced in late 2012, Eastern
Lightning’s leadership warned against audacity and reaffirmed the use of the
“wise” methods of guanxi and “sounding out.”48 While Protestant and govern-
ment sources depict “sounding out” as typifying the general cunning and evil of
the movement, the tactic has probably been developed primarily with the goal
of protecting vulnerable evangelists, rather than preying upon unsuspecting
Protestants. Networks also explain why once Eastern Lightning gains a foot-
hold in a Protestant community, a tide of conversions often follows. In 1997, for
example, Eastern Lightning arrived in a certain area of Shandong, and within
a year had attracted approximately three hundred people and “eaten up” four
rural TSPM churches.49 Likewise, one leader of a Nanjing house church told me
that when he discovered three Eastern Lightning adherents in his congrega-
tion in 2005, he “threw them out, but not before they were able to steal thirty-
odd people.”50
Anecdotal Testimonies
Eastern Lightning members distribute religious texts to prospective recruits by

introducing the materials during the course of a conversation, pressing them
into the hands of strangers on the street, or leaving them in public locations
such as train stations for passers-by to discover.51 Almost any literature pub-
lished by the Church may be used for this purpose—hymns or scripture in hard
copy or MP3 format, booklets of answers to frequently asked questions about
the church, and anthologies of anecdotes or testimonies (见证jianzheng).52
In 2006, Eastern Lightning’s Handbook of Principles for Church Work boasted
that use of these materials had been effective: “At the moment there are many
48 Church of Almighty God, “Shangmian jieda wenti de huixin 上面解答问题的回信.”

49 Hong Wen (红文), “Dongfang shandian” hairen buqian‘东方闪电’ “ 害人不浅” [“Eastern
lightning” causes deep harm], TF 5 (1999): 20.
50 Interview, Nanjing, May 2006.
51 Interviews with approximately one dozen Chinese Protestants and pastors and Western
Christians who had personally witnessed such behavior. Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hong
Kong, 2004 and 2006.
52 Refer to lists of Eastern Lightning publications given in the appendices to this book.
152 CHAPTER 6
materials for evangelism; giving copies of God’s Word and hymns on CD and
also testimonies is very beneficial. Lots of new people are coming in.”53
Many of these texts are discussed elsewhere in this book; Chapter 3
examined scripture and tales of judgment. Here, I consider the publication
Testimonies to How the Holy Spirit Guides People Back to the Almighty God (圣
灵引导人归向全能神的见证), which first appeared on Eastern Lightning’s
website in 2003, and now comprises 307 anecdotal testimonies ostensibly writ-
ten by Eastern Lightning converts. Approximately two-thirds of these concern
subjects who received visions or dreams, and approximately forty percent
of these in turn are reported to have occurred in Henan province, reflecting
the strength of the movement in this region.54 The structure of these cases
is similar to that of the tales of judgment introduced in Chapter 3. First, the
province, surname, previous denomination, and usually also age and sex of the
subject are given. The subject then narrates that they had defied at least one
attempt on the part of a friend, relative and/or previously unknown evangelist
to recruit them to Eastern Lightning. Then, usually within a few weeks of the
latest attempt, the subject receives an unusual dream or vision, which often
features motifs that are central to Eastern Lightning’s teachings (such as light-
ning or a woman). The dream is interpreted as validating Eastern Lightning’s
message, and together with the urgings of evangelists convinces the subject to
join the movement. A typical anecdote reads as follows:
Henan Province, Yang XX, female, 27 years old, formerly a Catholic. On

May 30 2002 my aunt and uncle proclaimed the gospel [author’s note:
i.e.: Eastern Lightning’s teachings] to me, and asked whether God was in
my heart. I didn’t respond, and so they left. That night, I had a dream.
I dreamt that it was windy and raining outside; lightning was flashing and
thunder was sounding. I leapt out of bed to shut the door, when all of a
sudden I saw a woman standing in the room. She asked me: ‘Is God still
in your heart? Do you still want to believe in God?’ I said: ‘God is in my
heart, and I want to believe!’ I turned around and saw four glittering gold
characters on the wall in the middle of the room: ‘God is among us’ (神在
人间 shen zai ren jian). Then the woman vanished. The next day, I went
to see my aunt and uncle. They told me: ‘God has come among us as the
word become flesh, and is doing the work of the Word’ . . . Then I finally

54 Church of Almighty God, Shengling yindao ren guixiang quannengshen de jianzheng 圣灵
引导人归向全能神的见证.
understood that it was God revealing himself to me in the dream, and

accepted this stage of work without hesitation.55
Po-Chia Hsia points out that dreams “utter culturally specific discourses” and
“have a cultural history.”56 Eastern Lightning’s frequent mention of thunder
and lightning occurring in dreams indeed reflects Chinese oneirocritical tradi-
tions, which have interpreted astronomical phenomena as representing divine
omniscience and omnipotence, and thunder as a symbol of majesty and jus-
tice (as per the Thunder God).57 Eastern Lightning’s anecdotes also evoke the
“accounts of the strange” (志怪 zhiguai), which circulated in China from the
Six Dynasties period (220–589 CE) until the end of the Qing dynasty. Benjamin
Penny has linked these to Falun Gong’s anecdotes of retribution against its
“persecutors”, indicating that the genre continues to influence religion in
China today.58 Like Eastern Lightning’s testimonies, zhiguai included but were
not restricted to instances of divine retribution and dreams. They were didac-
tic anecdotes, used notably by Buddhists as “vehicles of cosmological reflec-
tion and religious persuasion.”59 During the late imperial era, they experienced
a resurgence and came to be more closely associated with folk religion and
popular superstition.60 Here as in the figure of the Female Christ, then, we see
Eastern Lightning drawing on popular religious traditions.
55 Testimony number 55 in ibid. Eastern Lightning’s texts replace given names with “XX” to
protect adherents’ anonymity. Large, gold-colored characters often decorate the front or
the walls of Chinese Protestant churches. The phrase “this stage of work” here refers to
Eastern Lightning’s teachings about God’s work of judgment and transformation.
56 R. Po-Chia Hsia, “Dreams and Conversions: A Comparative Analysis of Catholic and
Buddhist Dreams in Ming and Qing China: Part One,” Journal of Religious History 29, no. 3
(2004): 225.
57 Fang Jing Pei and Zhuang Juwen, The Interpretation of Dreams in Chinese Culture (Trumbull,
CT: Weatherhill, 2000), passim; Luo Jianping (罗建平), Ye de yanjing: Zhongguo meng
wenhua xiangzheng 夜的眼睛: 中国梦文化象征 [Night vision: Symbols in Chinese
dream culture] (成都: 四川人民出版社, 2005), 21, 31, 32, 36.
58 Penny, “Animal Spirits,” 152.
59 Robert Ford Campany, Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996), x. The authors of the zhiguai stud-
ied by Campany came from south-central locations such as Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, and
Zhejiang (169), which are also hotspots of activity for Protestant-related new religious
movements.
60 Leo Tak-hung Chan, The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts: Ji Yun and Eighteenth-Century
Literati Storytelling (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1998), 3–4.
154 CHAPTER 6
There is also a venerable history of dreams in Chinese Christianity. Where

Catholics since the seventeenth century have seen the Virgin Mary, Eastern
Lightning adherents see the Female Christ; bright lights, golden Chinese char-
acters and copies of scripture are also motifs common to both.61 The arrival of
Pentecostalism in China during the first decades of the twentieth century pro-
vided additional impetus for dreams and visions in Protestantism, and these
soon appeared in indigenous denominations.62 Today, dreams and visions
are widely reported not only by members of Protestant-related new religious
movements, but also by more orthodox Protestants. The vision received by a
Protestant woman after being sentenced to six years in prison on Good Friday
in 1983, for example, resembles the Eastern Lightning testimony quoted above:
“I saw a large character for the word ‘Congratulations’ written in the sky. An
extremely bright, golden light was flashing.”63 In their iconography and func-
tion, then, Eastern Lightning’s anecdotes of dreams and visions echo previous
Christian traditions.
The similarities between zhiguai, Chinese oneirological symbols, Christians’
dreams and Eastern Lightning’s anecdotal testimonies indicate continuity in
the narratives, genres, discourses and experiences that are perceived as mean-
ingful and authoritative by Chinese believers (or some of them, at least). The
fact that Eastern Lightning proselytizers use these testimonies for recruit-
ment purposes indicates that they believe their audiences will give credence
to them, and expect the occurrence or absence of such phenomena to factor
in prospective recruits’ evaluation of their religion. Thus, despite its rhetorical
renunciation of popular religious and cultural traditions as ‘idolatry’, Eastern
Lightning attests to the resilience and versatility of traditional narratives of the
supernatural, even as it seeks to ‘spread the gospel’ of a new Christ.
Coercion
Protestants have expressed dismay at Eastern Lightning’s proselytizing efforts

from their first encounters with the group, depicting the group’s teachings as
heretical and its use of anecdotes of judgment as intimidating. An incident in
61 Hsia, “Dreams and Conversions; Part One,” 232–33; R. Po-Chia Hsia, “Dreams and
Conversions: A Comparative Analysis of Catholic and Buddhist Dreams in Ming and Qing
China; Part Two,” Journal of Religious History 34, no. 2 (2010): 114, 117; Madsen, “Chinese
Christianity,” 278.
62 Lian Xi, “Messianic Deliverance for Post-Dynastic China,” 409, 417, 419.
63 Danyun, Lilies amongst Thorns, 102.
2002 brought their indignation to fever pitch. The China Gospel Fellowship (中
华福音团契 Zhonghua fuyin tuanqi), one of the nation’s largest house church
networks, was formed in Tanghe County in the south of Henan province in
the late 1970s. It has spread throughout China and in the early 2000s boasted a
membership of between 2.3 and five million.64 On April 16 2002, members of
Eastern Lightning abducted thirty-four of the network’s most senior leaders,
and held them against their will for up to two months in an attempt to con-
vert them and, ultimately, their congregations.65 The scale and audacity of the
act shocked many in the Chinese and overseas Protestant communities, and
illustrated Eastern Lightning’s organizational capacity and social and religious
threat.
In the days following the abduction, the China Gospel Fellowship (CGF)
set up a website devoted to recounting the ordeal, to which they uploaded
regular updates on the victims’ welfare and later added theological critiques
of Eastern Lightning.66 Given that the Chinese government and Protestants
have been antagonistic towards Eastern Lightning from its inception and have
an ideological and organizational interest in discrediting new religious move-
ments, we must consider reports of the kidnappings with circumspection.
However, the CGF does not have a history of making false allegations, and most
Christians both inside and outside China regard it as a mainstream evangelical
church. The Fellowship’s written account of the abduction is consistent with
an account verbally related to me by one of the victims in Shenzhen in March
2006, and with multiple second-hand oral reports that I heard during my field-
work from theologians, church leaders and lay Protestants. For these reasons,
I treat the CGF’s reports of the incident as broadly accurate, and use them here
to reconstruct the abductions.67
64 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 373; Lambert, China’s

Christian Millions, 65–66, 250.
65 Protestants report that Eastern Lightning routinely targets church leaders for recruit-
ment, who are prized converts due to their potential to bring their entire congregation to
Eastern Lightning. Wan Ge (万戈), “E’du de ‘dongfang shandian’ 恶毒的‘东方闪电’ ”
[Malicious “Eastern Lightning”], TF 11 (1997): 24; Hong Wen (红文), “ ‘Dongfang shandian’
hairen buqian‘东方闪电’害人不浅” [“Eastern lightning” causes deep harm], TF 5
(1999): 20; Wei Ze (威泽), “ ‘Dongfang shandian’ you wan xin huayang‘东方闪电’又玩
新花样” [“Eastern Lightning” changes its tricks again], TF 8 (2002): 43.
66 As of late 2014, this website was still at http://www.chinaforjesus.com.
67 The documents which form the basis for the ensuing several paragraphs are Brother
Shen, “Testimony of Younger Shen: The Kidnapping.” Available at http://www.chinafor
jesus.com/cgf/CGF_shen_july_2002.htm. Accessed July 8, 2009; China Gospel Fellowship
(中华福音团契), “Report from China Gospel Fellowship of the April 16 Kidnapping
156 CHAPTER 6
According to the CGF’s reports, Eastern Lightning’s operation began when

two leaders of the Fellowship were approached in Pingdingshan City in Henan
province by a stranger who purported to represent a Singaporean theological
institute and offered to provide a three-week theological training course for
house church leaders. To evade detection by public security personnel, he pro-
posed the training be conducted simultaneously for small groups in six sepa-
rate locations in Shanghai, Hubei, Shandong, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Liaoning.
Upon their arrival at these locations, the CGF leaders were asked to hand over
their cell phones—again, ostensibly for security purposes—and were split up
into even smaller groups of two or three. The Fellowship leaders were some-
what bemused by the excessive furtiveness of the Singaporeans, but also sym-
pathized with it and so complied.
According to the Fellowship’s report, the Eastern Lightning members did
not initially allude to distinctive elements of their teachings. However, the
members of the Fellowship soon suspected a ruse due to their instructors’ ver-
bal attacks on Protestant churches and their use of Shouter vocabulary. These
suspicions were confirmed as the doctrines of the Female Christ and the three
dispensations were introduced. Finally, when their requests to leave were
denied, the Protestants realized that they had been abducted by adherents of
Eastern Lightning.
The CGF reports that the Eastern Lightning captors initially seemed kind,
but accuses the latter of drugging them, using deception, sexual seduction
and flirtation, bribing local police and threatening divine retribution at vari-
ous later points during their detention. Shen Xianfeng, nephew of Fellowship
founder Shen Yiping, recalls:
They put me in a room, the door of which was bound with ropes and
locked up. Even the windows were painted with dark green oil paint, let-
ting hardly any light in. There was also a guard at my door at all times.
I lay on my bed and refused to listen to them . . . They tried to ‘teach’ me
everyday and condemned me [for my Protestant beliefs] everyday. They
didn’t stop twisting the Bible and opposing the truth, attempting to make
me give up my beliefs. If there was any free time, they’d fill it by playing
songs from their CDs. I couldn’t sleep during day or night; nor could I
enjoy any food. I felt like my head was exploding and I was deeply tor-
mented both spiritually and physically.68
by the Eastern Lightning Cult.” Available at http://www.chinaforjesus.com/cgf/070702/

index.htm. Accessed March 23, 2004.
68 Brother Shen, “Testimony of Younger Shen.”
Three days into the ordeal, one Protestant escaped and informed other CGF
leaders in Henan about the incident, who then deliberated whether to report
it to government authorities. They elected not to report the incident in Henan
because authorities there had labeled the Chinese Gospel Fellowship itself a
‘cult’ (邪教 xiejiao) and cracked down on it in recent years, and the abductions
had not occurred in that province.69 Instead, they resolved that relatives of the
kidnapped leaders should travel to Beijing to report the case, and they arrived
there on April 27. While the Public Security Bureau was not directly involved in
securing the captives’ release, as they could not determine their location, they
were privately sympathetic to members of the house church. One by one, the
captives found opportunity to flee their confinement, the last in mid-June—a
full two months after the kidnapping.
News of the incident spread like wildfire in Chinese Protestant circles.
On the internet, groups published articles and Protestant discussion forums
filled with posts condemning the kidnappings and Eastern Lightning, calling
for prayer, and warning fellow Christians against heresies.70 The CGF subse-
quently published a book on the Eastern Lightning ‘cult’ written by a theolo-
gian who had himself been detained (软禁 ruanjin) by them for one month,71
and the group also developed a two hundred-page manual for training its
members in rebutting new religious movements.72 Neither the national reg-
istered Protestant bodies nor government sources acknowledged the incident
69 The following article notes that the CGF was listed as a target in the Henan government’s
1996 crackdown on “cults” (邪教 xiejiao): Liu Guojian (刘国建), “Zhonghua fuyin tuanqi
huodong de xin tedian 中华福音团契活动的新特点” [New characteristics of the China
Gospel Fellowship’s activities], 铁道警官高等专科学校学报 1 (2009). On the Xinyang
County People’s Government’s labeling and suppression of the China Gospel Fellowship
as a “cult” over 1997–2000, see “Christian Group Labelled as a Cult,” CSJ 13, no. 2 (1998):
59–60; Shen Xianfeng, “Accused Leader Responds to Charge: Are We Truly a Cult?,” CSJ 13,
no. 2 (1998): 60–62; “Bar Urged on Illegal Crackdown,” CSJ 15, no. 1 (2000): 95.
70 Author’s observation of BBS discussion threads dating from April 2002 (viewed
between mid-2004 and mid-2007 from sites such as www.loves7.com, www.kuanye.net,
and www.edzx.com). As one example of a house church magazine’s report of the kid-
napping, see Zhang Weidong (张卫东), “Fuyin tuanqi zaoyu dongfang shandian jishi
福音团契遭遇东方闪电纪实” [A record of the China Gospel Fellowship’s encounter
with Eastern Lightning], 道路 [The Way] (December 12, 2002). Available at http://www
.daolu.org. Accessed November 24, 2009.
71 Zhang Dakai (张大开), Pouxi xiejiao dongfang shandian 剖析邪教组织东方闪电
(Given English Title: An Analysis of the Eastern Lightning Cult). Mention of “detention”
on p. 1. The link to this publication on the China Gospel Fellowship’s website (www.chin-
aforjesus.com) makes it clear that Zhang is affiliated with this network.
72 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端.
158 CHAPTER 6
publicly, in line with their general reluctance to associate with unregistered

churches. However, the former passed a “Resolution on Opposing Evil Cults”
at the National Christian Congress, which was held shortly thereafter, and this
possibly constituted a tacit response.73
Word of the abductions also reached Protestants overseas via personal con-
tacts, the internet and a smaller amount of mainstream media.74 In the USA,
they eventually inspired an English-language fictionalized rendition, which
was printed by a Christian publishing house. C. Hope Flinchbaugh, a “wife,
mother and freelance writer from Pennsylvania,”75 interviewed a victim of the
kidnapping in China in October 2002 who described his ordeal as “worse than
the Communist prison” and claimed that “We’d rather be caught by the police
than fall into the evil hands of the Eastern Lightning cult.”76 With dramatic
flair, the novel gives a blow-by-blow creative reconstruction of the kidnapping.
It ends with the hero proposing to his sweetheart and the felicitous couple
resolving to found an orphanage as “Together they watched the sunlight dance
over the water in sparkling silver shoes, finding new steps as the air brushed
past.”77
For its part, Eastern Lightning emphatically denies Protestants’ allegations
of coercion and kidnapping in a statement that was first posted on its website
in March 2003:
The second big rumor used by the evil anti-Christs78 to attack the Church
of Almighty God is: The Church of Almighty God kidnaps people illegally
and forces them to accept the True Way. Those who fabricate these kinds
of lies are very foolish. The Church of Almighty God never intimidates
73 CCC/TSPM, “Resolution on Opposing Evil Cults and Resisting Heretical Beliefs,” ANS 5/6.9
(2002).
74 Paul Hattaway, “An Examination of the Eastern Lightning Cult: When Christians
Wish They Were in Prison.” Available at http://www.cswusa.com/Countries/China-
LighteningfromtheEast.html. Accessed March 16, 2004 (now defunct); Damien McElroy,
“34 Chinese Christians ‘Kidnapped by Evil Cult,’ ” Telegraph (June 24, 2002). Available at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1398252/34-Chinese-Christians-
kidnapped-by-evil-cult.html. Accessed February 11, 2010.
75 C. Hope Flinchbaugh, Across the China Sky (Bloomington: Bethany House, 2006), 6.
76 Ibid., afterword.
77 Ibid., 345.
78 In the New Testament, the term “Antichrist” (敌基督 di Jidu) refers to people who deny
that Jesus is Christ (1 John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3; 2 John 1:7). Eastern Lightning uses the term to
refer to Christians who deny the advent of the Female Christ.
anyone into accepting the True Way or joining in church life, because
God’s administration clearly stipulates: ‘Do not drag in any of your unbe-
lieving relatives (such as your children, husband, wife, sisters, or parents).
God’s family is not short of men and does not need useless men to make
up the number [sic].’79
Upon close examination, however, one portion of material posted elsewhere

on Eastern Lightning’s website appears to support the Fellowship’s report
of the kidnappings. In a lengthy report released in July 2002, the Fellowship
rejoiced that all but one of the victims had resisted the pressure to accept
Eastern Lightning’s teachings. The exception was a thirty-six-year-old male
from Shanxi province named Xue Mingxue 薛明学. In this context, one amid
the hundreds of testimonies published by Eastern Lightning merits special
attention. The collection entitled Iron-Clad Testimonies of Leaders of Each
Denomination Being Conquered by God’s Word After Resisting Christ (各宗派
首领抵挡基督被神话征服的铁证) comprises the stories of former leaders
of Christian churches who previously slandered Eastern Lightning, but con-
verted after reading Eastern Lightning scripture, meeting with evangelists, or
being punished in the form of illness. One “Xie Qiang” writes from Henan that
he was formerly a leader of the CGF, and that in mid-April 2002 he was sent to
Qingdao for theological training. According to the testimony, it was only on
the third day of the course that he realized that his instructors were Eastern
Lightning adherents. He then feared for his safety, but to his surprise, they
patiently endured his insults and spent thirteen days teaching him about the
Female Christ and the division of God’s work into different stages. He then put
his faith in the Almighty God, and implores the reader to do likewise.80
“Xie Qiang,” 谢强 literally meaning “thankful for strength,” is almost cer-
tainly a pseudonym. Most Eastern Lightning testimonies sign off with names
79 “对敌基督攻击全能神教会的四大谣言的剖析” [“Analyzing the Four Main Rumors

Spread by the Anitchrists to Attack the Church of Almighty God”], in Church of Almighty
God, 揭穿敌基督的谣言谬论 [Exposing the Antichrist’s rumors and falsehoods].
Formerly available at http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/fanbo/section1/0001.php.
Accessed August 14, 2010. This last sentence is from the tenth of Eastern Lightning’s “Ten
Commandments”; see “Ten Administrative Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Obey,” in
Church of Almighty God, WAF, contents p. 4, item 63.
80 Xie Qiang (谢强), “Wo mengle Quannengshen jida de zhengjiu 我蒙了全能神极大的
拯救” [I received the Almighty God’s great salvation], in Church of Almighty God, Ge
zongpai shouling bei shen huayu zhengfu de tiezheng 各宗派首领被神话语征服的铁证
[Ironclad proofs of being conquered by God’s Word], contents p. 1, item 19.
160 CHAPTER 6
bearing religious connotations, and are presumably the ‘new names’ used
by adherents as aliases to avoid persecution.81 In relation to details such as
time, place and evangelistic technique, the details of “Xie’s” “training” are con-
sistent with the CGF’s allegations of abduction. For these reasons, it is cred-
ible that the testimony may indeed have been written by Xue Mingxue, and
thus that it corroborates the gist of the Protestants’ accusations against Eastern
Lightning.
Although the CGF incident is the largest-scale event of its kind orchestrated
by Eastern Lightning to date, other abductions and violent incidents have fre-
quently been reported.82 While Eastern Lightning’s leadership evidently does
not condone the use of violence, it may be unable to impress this upon some
followers. Such tactics are ultimately counterproductive, however. Just one of
the thirty-four China Gospel Fellowship leaders captured was persuaded to
switch religious affiliation, and the incident catalyzed domestic and interna-
tional condemnation of Eastern Lightning. The sending of evangelists through-
out the nation and use of networks of personal relations has proven far more
effective in yielding converts.
Concluding Reflections
Eastern Lightning’s program of proselytizing has much in common with exist-

ing patterns of Chinese Protestant activity. Both Protestants and new religious
movements exhibit great zeal for proselytizing and use texts, travel and net-
works to spread their teachings. Eastern Lightning thus stands in a line of
devoted women instructing their ‘sisters’ in faith—a tradition that is evident
from the seventeenth century through to the Cultural Revolution and the
present day.83
81 Eastern Lightning discussed the allocation of “new names” in Church of Almighty God,
教会工作原则手册.
82 Zhu Ning (朱宁), “Jielou ‘dongfang shandian’ xie’e de benzhi 揭露‘东方闪电’邪恶
的本质” [Exposing the evil nature of “Eastern Lightning”], TF 8 (2003): 16–17; “Yaoyan
huozhong canhai yiyi: Tanghe xian xiejiao ‘dongfang shandian’ bei pumie ‘妖言惑众残
害异己——唐河县邪教‘东方闪电’被扑灭” [Spreading fallacies to deceive peo-
ple, injuring dissenters: The “Eastern Lightning” cult is stamped out in Tanghe county],
TF 5 (2000): 24; Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s Chinese.”
83 For example, Gail King, “Spaces for Belief: Christianity, Women, and Accommodation in
Seventeenth-century China,” Sino-Western Cultural Relations Journal 35 (2013): 32; Kao,
“Cultural Revolution,” 179–80.
Eastern Lightning is often criticized for breaking up families by engender-

ing religious conflict or enticing adherents to abandon their homes in order
to proselytize. In the past few years, groups such as The Anti-Almighty God
Coalition (反全能神联盟 Fan Quannengshen lianmeng) and The Anti-
Almighty God Alliance (反全能神同盟会 Fan Quannengshen tongmenghui)
have been set up to offer support to those affected by ‘cults’, and to assist them
in their search for lost family members. Their websites post photos of women
who have left home for evangelism and been reported as missing by relatives.84
The Eastern Lightning materials examined in this chapter reveal that out-
siders’ depictions of the group’s activities are not entirely unfounded, and
the organization exerts an exceptional degree of pressure upon members to
proselytize. One therefore hesitates to praise Eastern Lightning as a source of
empowerment for women. However, a gendered dimension to these criticisms
is also discernible: it is often rued that the movement discourages women from
attending to their duties as wives, mothers and daughters. When Women’s Life
magazine published the stories of women who joined Eastern Lightning, for
example, one of its complaints was that they ceased cooking and doing house-
work.85 Similarly, a video on the website of the Anti-Almighty God Coalition
criticizes parents who join cults for having messy homes, giving their money
away, and neglecting their children; families that do not believe in cults, in
contrast, are depicted as spending money on shoes, being neatly dressed, and
having tidy homes.86 By the same token, it is often implied that new religious
movements succeed because women are gullible.87
What these accounts miss is the courage, ambition, resourcefulness and
effectiveness of Eastern Lightning adherents, who have traversed the nation,
infiltrated Christian communities, converted countless individuals and writ-
ten and distributed large amounts of literature. This literature presents a much
more humanized picture of women who risk their personal comfort and lib-
erty to share their religion because they are convinced that the end is nigh and
that God has called on them. Eastern Lightning’s texts also suggest that the
84 www.fqnslm.com; http://www.xjshzzj.com/h-index.html; http://www.xq166.com/. Accessed

September 28, 2014.
85 Feng Shijun (冯士军) and Lan Feng (蓝风), “Xinjiao: Qianwan caliang nide yan 信教:
千万擦亮你的眼” [Believing religion: Keep your eyes open], 妇女生活 5 (2013): 4.
86 Anti-Almighty God Alliance (反全能神联盟), “Xin xiejiao jiating de haizi 信邪教家庭
的孩子” [The children of families who believe in cults]. Available at http://www.fqnslm
.com/Html/?783.html. Accessed July 16, 2013.
87 Gu Mengfei (顾梦飞), “H sheng Jidujiao yiduan ji xiejiao huodong diaocha fenxi H省基
heresies and cults in H province], NTR 1 (2001): 24, 29.
162 CHAPTER 6
strategy of building networks through discreet and arguably deceptive means

has been adopted in response to the intense political and religious opposition
with which it is met rather than out of malicious intent or a preferred modus
operandi.
Karrie Koesel argues that the organizational structure of the China Gospel
Fellowship over the past few decades has resembled that of early communist
movements. Both are “clandestine organization[s] competing for members
and operating in a repressive political context,” and use a “fractal” organization
operating at multiple levels that are insulated from each other.88 The same can
be said for Eastern Lightning, despite its enmity towards both CCP and CGF.
Further, the vocabulary Eastern Lightning adopts to discuss its recruitment
activities bears witness to the legacy of communist movements in China under
Mao. So prevalent was the use of military terms and warlike expressions dur-
ing the Cultural Revolution that they became “routine and mediocre.”89 Thus,
in the late 1960s, “targets of investigation” (对象 duixiang) were suspected
political enemies; for Eastern Lightning, they are potential converts ripe to be
approached with the gospel message. Eastern Lightning’s use of terminology
such as “lines” (线 xian) of workers and “leads” (线索 xiansuo), its sense of
mission and danger—even the violence to which it has been subjected and in
which it has engaged—all call to mind the political environment that can rea-
sonably be supposed to have surrounded Eastern Lightning adherents in their
youth. Mao’s endorsement that “it is right to rebel” paved the way for activities
and rhetoric now fuelling the rapid growth of Eastern Lightning and its chal-
lenge to orthodox political and religious institutions.
88 Koesel, “Rise of a Chinese House Church,” 584.

89 Dittmer and Chen, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, 30–33.
CHAPTER 7
Chinese Protestant Depictions of Heresy
Long before international media were reporting on the Church of Almighty

God, and long even before the CCP cracked down on Falun Gong, Christians
were expressing consternation at the teachings and activities of new religious
movements such as Eastern Lightning. Both the TSPM and CCC (together
and hereafter known as the Protestant lianghui)1 and unregistered (‘house’)
churches have condemned new religious movements, but there have been
differences in responses to them. The lianghui’s criticism of new religious
movements has reflected its united front with the state, while the responses
of other Protestants have followed the government’s approach less closely. In
both cases, Protestants represent themselves as more orthodox not only than
new religious movements, but sometimes also than other configurations of
Protestantism.
In charting the discussion of orthodoxy and heterodoxy in contemporary
Chinese Protestantism, this chapter illuminates areas of continuity, for the dif-
ferences between lianghui and alternative Protestant responses to new reli-
gious movements reflect longstanding tensions within Chinese Protestantism.
This chapter also extends the study of orthodoxy and heterodoxy in China by
taking it beyond its more traditional philosophical, political and religious set-
tings to examine it in a new millennium, a new technological setting, and a
different religious context. Despite these changes, from Confucian canon to
Christian chat rooms, the pursuits of combating heresy and promoting ortho-
doxy remain of paramount concern to at least some Chinese believers.
The Protestant lianghui’s Response to New Religious Movements
Critiquing the Shouters, 1982–1983

Protestant anti-heresy discourses first appeared in the post-Mao era in connec-
tion with the Shouters. As explained in Chapter 2, ‘Shouters’ is the pejorative
name given by state and Protestant sources to the Local Church, which was
the first new religious movement to take root in Chinese Protestantism in the
late 1970s and early 1980s. The Protestant lianghui’s attention was drawn to the
group in February 1982, when approximately two hundred Shouters stormed
1 The Chinese term 两会 lianghui simply means “two committees / organizations.”

164 CHAPTER 7
TSPM churches in Dongyang and Yiwu counties in Zhejiang province and

yelled accusations that the organization was unbiblical.2 The lianghui subse-
quently embarked on an education campaign in an attempt to curb the spread
of the Shouters, coinciding with a government crackdown on the group in the
lead-up to the campaign against “spiritual pollution.” The Zhejiang provincial
lianghui held a Bible Training Course in March 1983 for church volunteers from
Dongyang and Yiwu counties “because the churches in these two counties had
been in grave danger from the heretical opinions of Li Changshou,” the leader
of the Shouters.3 In mid-1984, over two years after the event, “training” con-
tinued, suggesting that the new religious movement was still attracting some
Christians.4 Education against the Shouters was linked with the promotion
of the TSPM and efforts to strengthen local lianghui bodies, which were still
re-establishing themselves in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. A church
in Yiwu County held a study course on the virtues of the TSPM for four hun-
dred participants, led by the same two pastors whose preaching had been
interrupted by the Shouters a year previously.5 In Dongyang County, a TSPM
Preparatory Committee was established.6
The longtime Chairperson of the national lianghui, Ding Guangxun (丁光
训, also known in English as K.H. Ting, 1915–2012), wrote an open letter to the
Shouters in which he attempted to persuade them—and presumably any other
readers—of the theological, political and moral shortcomings of the group and
its founder. This letter represents the only public attempt at communication
between the lianghui and adherents of new religious movements to date, and
opened with a conciliatory and even amiable tone: “Dearly beloved, your love
of God is, I know, the gift of God Himself and it brings you here together not
for reasons of sectarian interest or to gain influence but because we are bound
2 “More on the Dongyang and Yiwu Incidents,” China Study Project Bulletin, no. 21 (1983): 29–31;
Deng Fucun, “The Truth About the So-Called Dongyang & Yiwu Affair,” Religion in the PRC:
Documentation 12 (1983): 20–21.
3 “Bible Training Courses for Dongyang and Yiwu,” Religion in the PRC: Documentation 13 (1984):
29; “Heretical Group Causes Problems,” China Study Project Bulletin, no. 23 (1983): 6.
4 “Yiwu Church Special Bible Training Course,” Religion in the PRC: Documentation 16 (1985):
34–36.
5 Wang Xi’an, “Studying Three-Self at Yiwu, Zhejiang,” Religion in the PRC: Documentation 12
(1983): 23.
6 Editorial Committee of the Dongyang Municipal Gazetteer (东阳市地方志编委会), ed.,
东阳市志 [Dongyang Municipal Gazetteer], 727. Mention of the “Preparatory Committee”
(筹备委员会 choubei weiyuanhui) indicates that the county had not had its own TSPM
Committee up until this point, but had probably been governed less directly by the
provincial-level lianghui.
Protestant Depictions of Heresy 165
together as brothers and sisters in the Lord.”7 However, Ding was unsparing
in his attack on Witness Lee (Li Changshou), emphasizing Lee’s opposition to
Communism in the late 1940s and his American connections. In seeming con-
tradiction to this, he also asserted that Lee was involved with the violence of
the “extreme left” during the Cultural Revolution.8
The Shouters met with Three-Self leadership to discuss their differences,
but they were evidently irreconcilable, as the TSPM took the Shouters to court,
where the latter was judged to be “counter-revolutionary” in May 1983.9 The
Religious Affairs Bureau instructed churches to “resist the activities of the
Shouters.”10 To this end, the lianghui’s campaign against the Shouters inten-
sified with its publication of the book Firmly Resist the Heretical Opinions of
Witness Lee (为真道竭力争辩 Wei zhendao jieli zhengbian).11 Its authors,
Tang Shoulin and Ren Zhongxiang, had led Little Flock congregations prior to
1949 but aligned themselves with the Three Self Movement in the early 1950s,
when Watchman Nee was persecuted. Given Witness Lee’s history of affiliation
with this denomination, it was particularly salient that prior members of the
Little Flock rebut his teachings.
In May of 1983, the lianghui convened a forum to discuss the book in
Shanghai—where Tang, Ren and the national offices of the lianghui were
based. A Tian Feng report from this event illustrates that the condemnation
of the Shouters voiced there reflected contemporary political priorities, and
also followed the format of Maoist denunciation meetings of the preceding
decades:
In the Forum everyone expressed support for the essay’s political analysis
of Lee’s heresies. Pastor Sun Yanli said that Witness Lee’s current activity
is a continuation of his policy of ‘using the gospel to wipe out the revolu-
tion’ (以福音消灭革命 yi fuyin xiaomie geming) in the 1940s. His anti-
culture, immoral and irrational falsehoods are intended to destroy our
unified and peaceful achievement of the ‘Four Modernizations.’ Fellow
7 K.H. Ting (丁光训), “Discussion with Members of the Yeller Sect,” Religion in the PRC:
Documentation 15 (1984): 23–27.
8 I have found no other sources to suggest that Lee was in the PRC during the Cultural
Revolution.
9 Human Rights Watch/Asia, “China: Persecution of a Protestant Sect,” 4.
10 Ibid., 5.
11 Tang Shoulin (唐守临) and Ren Zhongxiang (任钟祥), Wei zhenli jieli zhengbian: Bochi Li
Changshou de yiduan xieshuo 为真道竭力争辩: 驳斥李常受的异端邪说 [Commonly
given English title: Firmly Resist the Heretical Opinions of Witness Lee] (上海: 上海市基
督教教务委员会, 1983).
166 CHAPTER 7
church worker Yin Xiang said that Witness Lee’s religious heresies were in
service of his reactionary political purposes. Many speakers mentioned
the problem of so-called ‘Shouters’ opposing the TSPM in some areas of
Zhejiang and Fujian, and expressed the view that in fact, there’s noth-
ing to be opposed in the ‘Three Selfs.’ Many churches overseas are also
self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating. The real reason why
Witness Lee wants to incite ignorant people to rise up and oppose the
TSPM is that he wants to oppose the New China and the patriotism of us
Chinese Christians. This is a political problem.12
The TSPM continued to express its concern with political orthodoxy, and arti-
cles in Protestant circles referred to Lee’s teachings not only as “heretical” (异端
yiduan), but also as “counter-revolutionary” (反革命 fan geming)—a term still
used frequently in the secular press and law courts at the time. From Guangxi,
Protestants wrote that “our hatred for the heretical teachings of Li Changshou
penetrates to the very marrow of our bones” and that Li aimed to disrupt “our
socialist New China.”13 A statement issued by delegates to the Forum further
expressed the hope “that all patriotic and Church-loving Christians through-
out the land will join together in the cause of a pure Church and a stable nation
by throwing themselves into the struggle against infiltration and heresy.”14 To
this end, forty thousand copies of Tang and Ren’s book were issued to church
leaders across the nation by the national TSPM seminary.15 Churches used
this material to educate Christians against the Shouters and in the value of
the TSPM; lesser-known mimeographed booklets denouncing Lee’s theology
also circulated among students in lianghui seminaries.16 Coming shortly after
12 “Quanguo lianghui zhaokai zuotanhui, zuotan jianjue dizhi Li Changshoude yiduan
xieshuo 全国两会召开座谈会,座谈坚决抵制李常受的异端邪说” [The national
Protestant lianghui hold forum, discuss boycotting Witness Lee’s heresies], TF 4 (1983): 12.
Watchman Nee and the Little Flock were charged with hoping to “use the gospel to extin-
guish the revolution” during the 1940s; TSPM writing on the Little Flock and the Local
Church / Shouters since the 1980s has made frequent mention of this.
13 “Visiting Churches in Guangxi,” Religion in the PRC: Documentation 16 (1985): 20.
14 “Opposition to Li Changshou,” Religion in the PRC: Documentation 13 (1984): 28.
15 “Heretical Group Causes Problems,” China Study Project Bulletin, no. 23 (1983): 6. The fol-
lowing report states that ninety thousand copies of the book were circulated but does not
cite a source for this figure: Human Rights Watch/Asia, “China: Persecution of a Protestant
Sect,” 4.
16 “Dao cheng roushen yu Li Changshou de ‘zihua lun’ 道成肉身与李常受的 ‘子化论’ ”
[The word become flesh and Witness Lee’s “theory of the incarnation”]. Handwritten,
photocopied booklet; no publication information given; “Yesu Jidu de shenwei 耶稣基
the Cultural Revolution, the lianghui’s response to the Shouters bore traces of
Mao-era mobilization and propaganda.
Labeling Heresy in the 1990s

Fewer reports of Protestant-related new religious movements appeared in
lianghui publications between 1985 and 1995, but heterodoxy remained alive
and well in Chinese Protestantism. Assorted individual prophets continued
to emerge and retreat, believers anticipated the apocalypse and Jesus’ return,
and an unhealthy emphasis on miracles and popular taboos against medical
treatment were also reported to be prevalent among Christians.17 A few larger
new religious movements also achieved considerable spread.18 Such was the
influence of the Born Again movement, the Shouters and the Efficacious Spirit
Teachings in Henan province in the late 1980s and early 1990s, that the national
lianghui assembled preaching bands to “concentrate on the areas where her-
esies and factional divisions are most apparent, with an emphasis on restoring
order.” Thus, reported Reverend Wang Shengcai of the Zhengzhou Protestant
Church, pastors, seminary graduates and trained volunteers visited churches
in rural areas of the province, where they publicized the CCP’s religious policy
and Three-Self principles (of self-support, self-propagation and self-gover-
nance) while also seeking to restore “the true faith of those who have gone
astray” and “resist infiltration and heresy.”19
The arrest of the leader of the Established King movement on rape charges
in January 1995 inspired a new wave of lianghui reports on new religious
督的身位” [The person of Christ]. Handwritten, photocopied booklet; no publication

information given; “ ‘Yong zai de fu’ neng shi fu chengwei zi de tiezheng me? ‘永在的
父’ 能是父成为子的铁证么？” [Is “Eternal Father” proof of the Father becoming Son?].
Typed, photocopied booklet; no publication information given. I am grateful to a former
lecturer at the Nanjing (Jinling) Theological Seminary for providing these materials to me
in June 2006.
17 Wu Yongnan (吴勇南), “You yige jia jidu mihuo qunzhong 又一个假基督迷惑群众”
[Another false Christ misleads the masses], TF 4 (1996): 26; Sun Chengfa (孙成发),
“Ruhe denghou zhulai? 如何等候主来？” [How should we await the Lord’s coming?],
TF 6 (1994): 28–29; Liu Guangcai (刘广才), “Yao fangbei jia xianzhi 要防备假先知” [Be
on guard against false prophets], TF 1 (1992): 29; Shen Mingsui (沈明燧), “Wo dui shenji
qishide kanfa 我对神迹奇事的看法” [My view of miracles and unusual phenomena],
TF 1 (1986): 18–19.
18 Tian Feng (田丰), “Dui Shandong yixie diqu chuxian de yiduan xieshuo de sikao 对山东
一些地区出现的异端邪说的思考” [Reflections on the heresies which have appeared
in some regions of Shandong], TF 12 (1994): 11–12.
19 Wang Shengcai, “Change Brought about in Henan by Preaching Band,” CSJ 6, no. 2 (1991): 69.
168 CHAPTER 7
ovements. The June 1995 issue of Tian Feng was devoted to “resisting heresies
m
and eliminating chaos” (抵制异端邪说,消除混乱现象 dizhi yiduan xieshuo,
xiaochu hunluan xianxiang), which was evidently to be achieved by denounc-
ing the Established King, the Shouters and foreign new religious movements.20
Essays at this time predominantly referred to the new religious movements as
“heretical teachings” (异端邪说 yiduan xieshuo), retaining the vocabulary that
lianghui sources had used to refer to the Shouters over a decade previously.21
“Take the Orthodox Road” (走正路 Zou zheng lu) was one of the pieces
published in the June 1995 issue of Tian Feng. It was submitted from Anhui
province, where new religious movements have flourished. A didactic comic
dialogue (对口相声 duikou xiangsheng), it exemplifies the lianghui’s depic-
tion of members of new religious movements (and, frequently, also of unof-
ficial churches) as poorly educated, lacking in comprehension of Christian
doctrine, superstitious, and adopting religion for material gain. Conversely, the
TSPM is represented as leading Protestants along the Orthodox Road and pro-
tecting them from inferior and destructive religious groups.22
The dialogue calls for one actor to play the part of an unregistered evangelist
(A) and another, a Christian who attends a TSPM church (B). The unregistered
evangelist claims that designated church buildings are “unholy,” that the TSPM
is “run by the government,” and that believers who attend TSPM churches “can-
not be saved.” Her identity as a member of the All Sphere Church or Born Again
sect is never explicitly stated, but is nonetheless clear as she talks about her
conversion (she recalls that she cried all night and then saw a vision of Jesus
Christ and a cross in the air—both experiences that are commonly associated
with this movement). The TSPM churchgoer questions her belief that profuse
crying is a condition for salvation, whereupon the evangelist attempts to dem-
onstrate a biblical foundation for it.
A: OK. Open the Old Testament to ‘Lavinia’ (利末计 Limo ji)

B: Sister, you read that wrong; that’s ‘Leviticus’ (利未记 Liwei ji)
A: Huh? ‘Leviticus’?
B: Yes.
20 Many of these articles were reprinted by the lianghui in Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩), ed., 坚持
真理, 抵挡异端, [Hold fast to the truth, resist heresy] (上海: 中国基督教协会, 1996).
21 Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩), “Jianli jidujiaohui bixu jingti yiduan xieshuo de weihai 建立基督
教会必须警惕异端邪说的危害” [In building the church we must guard against her-
esies], TF 6 (1995): 9.
22 Zhang Shuyun (张树云), “Zou zheng lu 走正路” [Take the orthodox road], TF 6 (1995):
43–45.
A: ‘Lavinia’, ‘Leviticus’, they look the same to me. Someone just taught
me those few characters. Let’s look at the New Testament instead.
Open to ‘Epeasians’ (以费所 yifeisuo) Chapter 2 . . .23
Mystified by the limited literacy of her interlocutor, the TSPM churchgoer

enquires as to how many years of study she undertook before becoming an
evangelist.
A: Just a month.
B: You can be an evangelist after studying for just one month?
A: Haha . . . but of this month, I missed 29 days of class.
B: So you only studied for one day.
A: Haha . . . That lunar month only had 29 days.
B (Laughing): So you didn’t even study for one day?
A: That’s right.
B: So how can you be an evangelist?
A: I just rely on a few sentences someone taught me.
B: Can you spread the gospel effectively?
A: Aiya, never mind that, as long as my belly is full.
In 1997, the All Sphere Church came to the attention of the lianghui once again
when its leader, Xu Yongze, was detained by the Public Security Bureau in
Henan. In response to international concern over the incident Dr. Han Wenzao
韩文藻, President of the China Christian Council, defended Chinese authori-
ties’ actions in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. Han described the
denomination as a “cultic organization” (邪教组织 xiejiao zuzhi), denied that
Xu was a Christian and likened his arrest to foreign governments’ prosecution
of the Branch Davidians and Aum Shinrikyo in recent years. He accused Xu
of holding illegal gatherings and prohibiting believers from working. He also
claimed that Xu taught that hysterical crying was necessary for salvation and
that the end of the word was nigh, “thereby confusing and poisoning people’s
minds.”24 In the June 1997 issue of Tian Feng, the movement was again referred
23 Ibid., 45.

24 Han Wenzao, “Statement by China Christian Council President Dr. Wenzao Han
on China’s So-Called ‘Religious Persecution,’ ” ANS 7.1 (1997); Xinhua News Agency
(新華社), “Zhongguo Jidujiao Xiehui huizhang Han Wenzao dui ‘zongjiao pohai’ shi-
jian fabiao tanhua 中國基督教協會會長韓文藻對 ‘宗教迫害’ 事件發表談話” [CCC
President Han Wenzao releases statement concerning so-called “religious persecution”],
in 真理異端真伪辨: 透視大陸教會異端問題 [Given English Title: Discerning Truth
170 CHAPTER 7
to as a “cult” in a report of murder—a 57 year-old female peasant adherent

had attempted to cure a schoolteacher of an unspecified illness by “beating
the devil” out of her.25 These depictions of the group differed markedly from
that in “Take the Orthodox Road.” In 1995, the Born Again evangelist had been
depicted as foolish, ignorant and motivated by material gain; in 1997, Xu was
presented as a danger to society, and his network of churches compared to
movements of global infamy.
This shift towards using the term xiejiao (‘cult’) and emphasizing the dam-
age that new religious movements inflicted reflected trends in the secular press
in the mid-1990s, and was a harbinger of developments to come. In Protestant
as in other publications the term xiejiao had initially been employed to refer to
new religious movements overseas, first appearing in discussion of the Children
of God in the United States in a Tian Feng edition of 1986.26 In November 1995,
the Born Again Sect, Established King and the Shouters were labeled xiejiao by
the Ministry of Public Security.27 It was from around this time that Protestant
sources began to label Protestant-related new religious movements such as
the Established King as xiejiao, but they did so only sporadically. As Figure 6
shows, the term xiejiao (‘cult’; ‘heterodox teaching’) was used with only one
quarter of the frequency of yiduan (‘heresy’) at this time.28
As recounted in Chapters 1 and 5 of this book, the term xiejiao was used by the
late imperial state to prescribe the suppression of heterodox sects. Confucius
(441–479 BCe) first used the term 异端 yiduan to denote strange or alien prin-
ciples, lamenting in the Analects that “The study of strange doctrines is injuri-
ous indeed.”29 In the contemporary context, however, yiduan is used chiefly
by religious figures to denote ‘heresy,’ or deviant religious teachings. Tian Feng
magazine’s more frequent use of xiejiao suggested that the Protestant lianghui
was increasingly aligning itself with the state’s stance towards new religious
from Heresies: A Critical Analysis of the Alleged and Real Heresies in Mainland China],
ed. Susanna Chen (陳韻珊) (Taipei: Taipei: Jidujiao yu Zhongguo yanjiu zhongxin
[Christianity and China Research Center], 2000 [1997]). See p. 136 of this book for Xu’s
son’s rebuttal of these accusations.
25 Yang Miaoyu (杨妙玉), “Yi qi yanzhong de xiejiao sharen an 一起严重的邪教杀人案”
[A grave case of murder at the hands of a cult], TF 6 (1997): 20.
26 Li Hufa (李护法), “Yige xin xiejiao 一个新邪教” [A new cult], TF 1 (1986): 20–21.
28 Data in this and subsequent figures was obtained by searching CKNI Chinese Academic
Journal database index of Tian Feng.
29 Liu and Shek, “Afterword: The Twentieth-Century Perspective,” 477.
70
60
Incidence of articles in Tian Feng

50
40
30
20
10
0
1994 1995 1996 1997
“xiejiao” in full text 0 16 12 16
“yiduan” in full text 40 64 58 61
figure 6 Incidence of articles in Tian Feng magazine using terms xiejiao and yiduan,
1994–1997.
movements, and calling for their suppression rather than simply criticizing
their teachings.
Reports of heresy (异端 yiduan) continued to surface in Tian Feng in late
1997: of the Efficacious Spirit Teachings in August,30 and of Eastern Lightning
in November.31 Tian Feng also adopted a new medium for critiquing new
religious movements in this year. The Sister Martha (Mada zimei) cartoon
strip featured a cooperative churchgoer (reminding her Christian brothers
and sisters to be punctual and dress appropriately for services) and a Good
Samaritan (her compassion symbolized by the radiant heart she holds in the
serial’s logo—see Figure 7), and also demonstrated unfailing devotion to the
lianghui and CCP.
The serial is reminiscent of Maoist propaganda in its promotion of a model
citizen to be emulated by the masses, and typifies the mobilization of the
lianghui’s educative apparatus in its efforts against heterodoxy. Indeed, the
creator of the series has stated that one of its aims was to help Protestants to
30 Zhong He (中和), “Women zheli laile chuan yiduande ren 我们这里来了传异端的人”
[People spreading heresies have come to us here], TF 8 (1997): 27; Wang Qidi (王七弟),
“Yesu yi erci jianglinle ma? 耶稣已二次降临了吗？” [Has Jesus already come again?],
TF 8 (1997): 26.
31 TF 11 (1997): 23–26.
172 CHAPTER 7
figure 7 “Don’t Believe Lightly” (切勿轻信 qie wu qing xin), Tian Feng, May 1998.
identify heresies (异端邪说 yiduan xieshuo).32 Hence, in May 1998, Martha

appeared in the cartoon “Don’t believe lightly”, warning her peers against spec-
ulation about Jesus’ second coming (Figure 7).33
The first and second frames of the cartoon depict Martha urging others not
to believe predictions about Jesus’ return. In the third frame, Martha’s peers
come to her, confused by literature that reads “Jesus is coming soon. Jesus
told me that you should give your money to me, stop work and await his com-
ing. I am sent by him.” Martha tells them it is heresy. The final frame shows
Martha resolving her peers’ confusion once and for all by opening a Bible to
the verses Acts 1:11 (“He will come back in the same way you have seen him go
into heaven”) and Matthew 25:13 (“Therefore keep watch, because you do not
know the day or the hour”), which the final caption echoes. Published eighteen
months before the turn of the millennium, the cartoon was undoubtedly a
32 Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), Mada zimei 马大姊妹 [Sister Martha] (上海: 中国基督教协会,
2001), author’s introduction.
33 Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), “Mada zimei lianhuan manhua 21: Qie wu qing xin 马大姊妹连环
漫画 21：切勿轻信” [Sister Martha serial comic 21: Don’t believe lightly], TF 5 (1998): 29.
response to the eschatological expectations held by some Chinese Protestants

and many new religious movements at this time.34
Falun Gong and the Rise of the Term xiejiao in Protestant lianghui
Sources, 1999–2002
In response to Falun Gong’s assembly of ten thousand practitioners outside
Zhongnanhai on April 25 1999, the Standing Committee of the National People’s
Congress resolved that “All corners of society shall be mobilized in preventing
and fighting against cult activities.”35 Accordingly, representatives of the five
official religious associations denounced Falun Gong (Buddhists, in fact, had
been doing so since 1996).36 In September 1999, the lianghui deployed Sister
Martha in a Tian Feng cartoon for this cause (Figure 8).37 In the first frame
of the cartoon, Martha doubts the merit (功 gong) of Falun Gong’s methods.
In the second, she teaches that Falun Gong’s claims of healing are deceptive
and harmful. The third frame portrays the infamous Falun Gong “disturbance”
(闹事 naoshi) outside Zhongnanhai, which is said to have revealed the move-
ment’s “savagery” (狰狞 zhengning). As a bulldozer clears up Falun Gong plac-
ards in the fourth frame, Protestants file into a church and the text reminds the
reader that “religious activities are protected by law.”
The Protestant lianghui sustained such responses to Falun Gong during the
years in which the authorities’ actions against the new religious movement
were most intense. In 2000 Tian Feng featured articles that dismissed “evil
cults” and their appeals to human rights and upheld the government’s distinc-
tion between cults and religion;38 in 2001 the Shanghai and National lianghui
met to denounce Falun Gong a couple of weeks after a self-immolation
34 See “Millennial Movements Gain Momentum in China,” ANS 9/10.1 (1999). Other Martha
cartoons included “Heresies are harmful” which depicted adherents of a new religious
movement attempting to beat the devil out of an elderly woman, “Don’t believe hetero-
doxy” which warned against fortune telling and fengshui, and “Destroy superstition”
which discredited traditional funerary practices. See Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), Mada zimei
马大姊妹 [Sister Martha], 44, 47, 49.
35 “Full Text of New Chinese Legislative Resolution Banning Cults.”
36 Karrie J. Koesel, Religion and Authoritarianism: Cooperation, Conflict, and the Consequences
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 55–56; Benjamin Penny, “The Falun Gong,
Buddhism and ‘Buddhist Qigong,’ ” Asian Studies Review 29 (2005): 36.
37 Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), “Mada zimei lianhuan manhua 31: Dizhi xieshuo 马大姊妹连环
漫画 31：抵制邪说” [Sister Martha serial comic 31: Resist heresy], TF 9 (1999): 22.
38 Gong Zheng (龚正), “Wei xiejiao zhengqu renquan tai guofenle 为邪教争取人权太过
份了” [Claiming human rights for cults is over-the-top], TF 6 (2000): 24; Cao Shengjie
(曹圣洁), “Zongjiao he xiejiao burong hunxiao 宗教和邪教不容混淆” [Cults cannot be
174 CHAPTER 7
figure 8 “Resist Evil Teachings” (抵制邪说 dizhi xieshuo), Tian Feng, September 1999.
incident.39 Thus, the lianghui had been vocal in its opposition to ‘cults’ for
several years by the time the Standing Committee of the Seventh National
Christian Congress passed a Resolution Opposing Evil Cults in 2002, which
called upon “all Christians to resolutely oppose evil cults, especially those that
masquerade as Christian, and to support the government’s legal attempts to
eradicate evil cults.”40
The Amity News Service (ANS) translated the lianghui’s representation of
evil cults for English speakers in accordance with its aim of “communicating
confused with religion], TF 6 (2000): 24–25; Zheng Jincan (郑金灿), “Zongjiao yu xiejiao
宗教与邪教” [Religions and evil cults], TF 7 (2001): 18.
39 Wang Chao (望潮), “Zhongguo, Shanghai jidujiao lianghui zai hu juxing zuotanhui
shengtao ‘Falun gong’ 中国、上海基督教两会在沪举行座谈会声讨‘法轮功’ ”
[The National and Shanghai branches of the Protestant lianghui hold forum in Shanghai,
condemn “Falun Gong”], TF 3 (2001): 13. Five people set themselves alight in Tiananmen
Square on the eve of Chinese New Year on January 23, 2001. The government (and a flood
of Chinese media) reported that they were Falun Gong practitioners; Falun Gong denied
this.
(2002).
the news and views of the China Christian Council.”41 In 1997, it published Han
Wenzao’s condemnation of the Born Again Sect in response to foreign accusa-
tions of religious persecution.42 In 1999, it summarized Tian Feng’s reporting
of Eastern Lightning, describing it as a “sect” and “millennial group”—terms
less pejorative than xiejiao, which was peppered throughout the original
Chinese reporting. These articles were also accompanied by editorial remarks,
which appealed to worldwide anti-cult actions and discourses.43 In 2001, ANS
chose not to tweak the lianghui’s open letter to “friends overseas” in which it
described Falun Gong as a “cult,” argued that it was not a religion, praised the
government’s policy on religious freedom and quoted Bible verses to support its
condemnation of Falun Gong.44 In this way, the Protestant lianghui defended
Chinese government actions and policies to an international audience.
The campaign against Falun Gong heralded new developments in the liang-
hui’s labeling of heterodoxy. Specifically, lianghui sources used the term xiejiao
with increased frequency, not only to condemn Falun Gong but also in relation
to Protestant-related new religious movements. Whereas Eastern Lightning
had been described as a “heretical evil teaching” (异端邪说 yiduan xieshuo)
in 1997,45 articles in editions of Tian Feng during late 1999 repeatedly described
it as an “evil cult” (xiejiao).46 While use of xiejiao did not surpass that of yiduan in
Tian Feng during the state’s crackdown on Falun Gong, it did increase dramati-
cally (Figure 9), suggesting that the CCP’s anti-cult action affected the TSPM’s
understanding and depiction of heterodoxy.
The imperative for those connected with the lianghui to observe the CCP’s
linguistic and ideological prescriptions on new religious movements is illus-
trated by the fate of a book by Pastor Jing Jiuwei 靖玖玮, which was published
41 This was the motto of the Amity News Service, which is now archived at http://www
.amityfoundation.org/eng/content/amity-news-service-1992-2011.
42 Han Wenzao, “Statement by China Christian Council President Dr. Wenzao Han on
China’s So-Called ‘Religious Persecution,’ ” ANS 7.1 (1997).
43 “Millennial Movements Gain Momentum in China,” ANS 9/10.1 (1999); “ ‘Eastern Lightning’
Sect Continues to Do Damage,” ANS 5/6.4 (1999).
44 CCC/TSPM, “An Open Letter on the Falun Gong Issue,” ANS 3/4.9 (2001).
45 Wan Ge (万戈), “E’du de ‘dongfang shandian’ 恶毒的‘东方闪电’ ” [Malicious “Eastern
Lightning”], TF 11 (1997): 24–25.
46 Jing Huanxin (景焕新), “Jinfang xiejiao ‘Dongfang Shandian’ jia jidu pianrende baxi 谨防
邪教 ‘东方闪电’ 假基督骗人的把戏” [Beware of the “Eastern Lightning” cult’s false
Christ ruse], TF 7 (1999): 20–21; Jiang Shan (江山), “Xiejiao ‘dongfang shandian’ chuanbo
shoufa jiemi 邪教 ‘东方闪电’ 传播手法揭秘” [Exposing the “Eastern Lightning” cult’s
methods of dissemination], TF 9 (1999): 25–26.
176 CHAPTER 7
70
60
Incidence of articles in Tian Feng 50
40
30
20
10
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
“xiejiao” in full text 0 16 12 16 19 20 37 36 32
“yiduan” in full text 40 64 58 61 45 42 56 50 50
1994–2002.
by the China Christian Council in May 2002.47 A Look at All Kinds of Heresies
gave the definition of key terms such as ‘heresy,’ a history of Christian-related
heresy, and an overview of new religious movements in China and abroad.
Within two years of its publication, however, the book had been withdrawn
from sale; when I visited a lianghui bookstore in Shanghai in mid-2004, a
salesperson expressed bewilderment as to the reason for its removal from
the shelves, but proffered her own personal copy of the book, which she kept
beneath the counter. I was advised that the book was withdrawn from circula-
tion due to its stance on Falun Gong.48 While Jing’s book was written at the
height of the state’s anti-cult campaign it seemed relatively unconcerned by
Falun Gong, discussion of which occupied just six pages and was buried at
the end of the chapter on heresies and cults—after all the Protestant-related
new religious movements, including Children of God, which merited only one
paragraph and has negligible presence in the PRC. Jing’s discussion further vio-
lated state anti-cult norms as it left room for Falun Gong and other ‘cults’ to be
47 Jing Jiuwei (靖玖玮), Yiduan xiejiao mianmian guan 异端邪教面面观 [An examination
of heresies and cults] (上海: 中国基督教协会, 2002).
48 Interview with church leader in Hong Kong who has frequent contact with Christians on
the mainland. Hong Kong, February 2006.
considered ‘religions’, where the state insisted that Falun Gong and other ‘evil
cults’ were of a fundamentally different nature to ‘religion.’49
Treatment of the Sister Martha comic strip also attests to the sensitivity of
Protestant discussion of Falun Gong. Figure 8 was included in a 2001 lianghui
compilation of Sister Martha strips, but with three amendments to its origi-
nal Tian Feng form.50 First, the title of the print was changed from “Resist Evil
Teachings” (抵制邪说 dizhi xieshuo) to “Resist Evil Cults” (抵制邪教 dizhi
xiejiao), reflecting the political correctness of using the term xiejiao at the time.
Second, the text accompanying the second frame was revised to depict Falun
Gong’s promises of healing as causing death rather than just harm. Third, the
final frame reminded the reader that “religion is protected, [while] evil cults
are prohibited,” reiterating the condemnation of ‘evil cults’ and their demarca-
tion from ‘religion.’ It is not clear whether these subtle yet significant changes
were initiated by the artist, or under the instruction or inducement of another
party. Either way, they reflect the lianghui’s support for the government’s treat-
ment of new religious movements, the adoption of the lexicon favored by it,
and the escalation of polemics.51
The lianghui did more than ensure that its rejection of new religious move-
ments adhered to CCP ideological and linguistic prescriptions; it also projected
the conformity back into the past. At the Third Meeting of the Ninth Session
of the Chinese People’s Consultative Congress in 2000, Cao Shengjie, President
of the China Christian Council, suggested that the meanings of xiejiao and
yiduan were essentially the same, though the latter term was favored in reli-
gious circles: “In the past twenty years, the number of Protestants has grown
considerably, but evil cults (Protestants call them ‘heresies’) that are constituted
from the distortion and selective use of Protestant doctrine have also appeared
49 “Is Falun Gong a religion? Some people put it in the category of new religion (新兴宗教
xinxing zongjiao), and see it as a kind of newly emerging religion. I do not wish to discuss
whether or not Falun Gong is a religion; I just want to investigate whether Falun Gong
possesses the characteristics of a xiejiao.” Jing Jiuwei (靖玖玮), Yiduan xiejiao mianmian
guan 异端邪教面面观, 161.
50 Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), Mada zimei 马大姊妹 [Sister Martha], 45. The 1997 Martha car-
toon reproduced in Figure 7 was not altered for inclusion in the 2001 compilation. The
cartoon addressing Falun Gong may have been thought to warrant revision given the
extreme political sensitivity attached to this movement in particular.
51 The lianghui was not alone in this; on the Chinese Buddhist Association’s increasing use
of xiejiao, see Palmer, Qigong Fever, 262; Penny, “Falun Gong, Buddhism and ‘Buddhist
Qigong,’ ” 37.
178 CHAPTER 7
everywhere.”52 By equating the terms ‘heresies’ and ‘evil cults’ in her interpola-
tion, Cao implied that the lianghui’s anti-heresy efforts of the past two decades
indicated that they had long appreciated the problems of ‘evil cults,’ and had
been forerunners in China’s war upon them. In fact, religious figures usually
represent yiduan as falling within the category of religion, which xiejiao do
not, and the lianghui had not called for government action to deal with them
up until this point.
Further, the lianghui’s response to new religious movements has been con-
sistent with its efforts over the past sixty years to discredit religious groups and
leaders who lie outside the united front and compete with the TSPM for reli-
gious authority and legitimacy. In the 1950s, leaders of the TSPM accused for-
eign missionaries of being imperialist agents “hidden within Christianity,” and
Chinese Christian leaders who resisted joining the TSPM of being “counter-rev-
olutionary.” Lianghui authors now accuse new religious movements of being
politically motivated and “anti-government.” And just as Chinese evangelists
who refused to join the TSPM were accused by the latter of sexual immorality,
brainwashing, fraud, faking exorcism and causing death by advocating faith
healing, leaders of new religious movements are depicted in the same way
today.53
It is difficult to assess accusations of criminal behavior, and possible that
historical continuity characterizes the practices of religious individuals as well
as the accusations of the Protestant lianghui. Clearly, however, the lianghui’s
polemic against religious competitors and dissenters has followed the vicissi-
tudes of domestic politics. From “counter-revolutionary” to “evil cult”, lianghui
literature has adopted the terminology and depictions favored by the state, and
its assessment of religious teachings has been affected by considerations of polit-
ical as well as religious orthodoxy. Hence, the lianghui describes new religious
movements as “disturbing social order,” “anti-government” and “unpatriotic.”54
52 Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Zongjiao he xiejiao burong hunxiao 宗教和邪教不容混淆”

[Cults cannot be confused with religion], TF 6 (2000): 24–25. My emphasis.
53 On the earlier period see issues of Tian Feng from 1950 to 1951, for example, Qiao Weixiong
(喬維熊), “Kongsu Jidujiao bailei Gu Ren’en 控訴基督教敗類顧仁恩” [Accuse
Christian scum Ku Jen’en], TF 262–63 (1951): 28; Wallace C. Merwin and Francis P. Jones,
eds., Documents of the Three-Self Movement (New York: National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the USA, 1963), 34–36. On new religious movements in recent times see
Chang Lewen (常乐文), “‘Dongfang shandian’ zai pouxi ‘东方闪电’ 再剖析” [Analyzing
“Eastern Lightning” once again], TF 5 (2007): 30–31; Mao Song’en (毛颂恩), “Yiduan hai-
ren 异端害人” [Heresies are harmful], in 马大姊妹 (上海: 中国基督教协会, 2001), 44.
(2002).
Tackling Heresy, Disseminating Orthodoxy at the Turn of the

Millennium
In addition to denouncing xiejiao, the lianghui has taken more tangible
measures against them. The lianghui attributes the transmission of new reli-
gious movements in large part to the low “[human] quality” (素质 suzhi) of
Protestants in rural areas, where new religious movements have thrived and
seventy to eighty percent of Chinese Protestants live. The need to improve
believers’ “quality of faith” (信仰素质 xinyang suzhi) and thereby combat new
religious movements is widely presented as one of the most urgent tasks con-
fronting the Chinese church. At the Seventh National Christian Conference in
2002, Cao Shengjie reported:
At present these heresies are mainly active in rural areas and small towns,
because rural Christians’ educational level is lower and they lack a cor-
rect understanding of Christian truth; there is also a serious lack in rural
villages of pastors with theological training. These serious facts tell us
that if we do not pay attention to rural church work, and strive to raise
the quality of believers there, the future of all Christianity in China will
be affected.55
In turn, the lianghui relate the “poor quality” of Protestants’ faith and the spread
of new religious movements to the severe shortage of trained clergy in China.
Hence, in its 2002 Resolution Opposing Evil Cults, the lianghui remarked: “those
grassroots-level churches and rural churches which lack pastoral staff are vul-
nerable to negative influence from heretical groups.”56 In Henan, a hotspot for
new religious movements, the number of clergy is notoriously inadequate: as
of 2009, the provincial lianghui estimated just 184 ordained pastors for more
than 2.4 million Protestants and six thousand congregations, equating to one
pastor per thirteen thousand believers.57
To alleviate the paucity of ordained ministers and stem the tide of ‘heresy’
the lianghui has expanded its theological programs, but demand still exceeds
55 Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Put Down Roots and Build, Strengthen Ourselves, Move with the
Times and Run the Church Well: Work Report of the 7th National Christian Conference,”
CTR 16 (2002): 17. See also Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Zongjiao he xiejiao burong hunxiao
宗教和邪教不容混淆” [Cults cannot be confused with religion], TF 6 (2000): 25.
(2002).
57 Wang Baoquan (王保全), “Henan sheng Jidujiao jianshi 河南省基督教简史.”
180 CHAPTER 7
supply.58 For this reason, lianghui at the provincial and county levels hold
short courses for volunteers and evangelists. In Zhoukou in eastern Henan, for
example, they provide theological instruction to enable the city’s one thou-
sand churches to respond more effectively to the influence of new religious
movements, which was a high priority for the municipal lianghui after it was
founded in April 2003.59 In addition to the training courses held at its head-
quarters, it has sent teams of evangelists led by graduates from seminaries in
Zhengzhou and Nanjing to visit rural churches during the agricultural slack
seasons, where the seventy volunteers train local Protestants.60
The lianghui’s construction of heterodoxy is evident not only in its denun-
ciations of heresy, but also in the orthodoxy it promotes. The lianghui endorses
time-honored Christian creeds and its official statement of faith reads as a
standard evangelical one.61 However, since 1998 the project of Theological
(Re-)Construction (神学思想建设 Shenxue sixiang jianshe) spearheaded
by the late lianghui patriarch Ding Guangxun has been concerned to “adapt
Protestantism to socialist society” in accordance with President Jiang Zemin’s
1993 directive.62 Thus, it has reflected political orthodoxy’s influence on the
lianghui’s religious orthodoxy.
From the mid-1990s, Ding Guangxun, who had been member of the TSPM
Standing Committee in the early 1950s and chaired both the TSPM and CCC
since 1980, began to speak out against the ‘fundamentalist’ bent of many
Chinese Protestants, including those within the TSPM. Differences between
58 In Henan, for example, 340 Christians sat the entrance examination for the Bible School
in 2012, hoping to secure one of the seventy new degree places. Jin Xinyuan (靳新元),
“Henan shengjing zhuanke xuexiao juban 2012 nian zhaosheng kaoshi 河南圣经专科
学校举办 2012 年招生考试” [Henan Bible School holds 2012 entrance examination].
Available at http://www.hnjdj.org/article-5305296-1.html. Accessed July 29, 2013.
59 Wang Rongwei (王荣伟), “Jinri Zhoukou jiaohui: Zhoukou jiaohui shenxue peixunban
jianwen 今日周口教会—周口教会神学培训班见闻” [The Zhoukou church today—
theological training classes for the Zhoukou church], TF 15 (2007): no pages given. English
translation: “Love Finds a Way at Zhoukou Church,” ANS 10/12.3 (2007).
60 Ibid.; Theresa Carino, “ ‘Coping’ with Rapid Church Growth in Henan,” ANS 4/6.3 (2007).
61 CCC/TSPM, “Xinyang xuangao 信仰宣告” [Statement of faith]. Available at http://www
.ccctspm.org/about/2008/529/xuanshi.html. Accessed July 29, 2009.
62 “Actively lead religion into mutual adaptation with socialist society” (积极引导宗教
与社会主义社会相适应 jiji yindao zongjiao yu shehui zhuyi shehui xiang shiying) was
one of the “three phrases” (三句话 san ju hua) coined by Jiang Zemin at the National
Conference on United Front Work in 1993, and has been widely invoked in government
pronouncements on religious policy since this time. While “相适应 xiang shiying” is
translated as “mutual adaptation,” the adaptation required of socialist society seems fre-
quently limited to tolerating the registered religious associations and the private beliefs
of individuals.
Ding and more fundamentalist evangelicals extended many decades into

the past, when the latter opposed the formation of the TSPM. But while Ding
had been preoccupied with the rehabilitation of the TSPM in the wake of the
Cultural Revolution, he could now focus on the future of the Chinese church,
its theology, and its standing in Chinese society.
The crux of Ding’s objection to much Chinese Protestant thinking was that
it gave undue weight to the doctrine of justification by faith, at the expense of
encouraging good works. Ding found it unfathomable that Communist models
such as Lei Feng “who did not accept Christianity, yet sacrificed their lives for
others” could be consigned to perdition.63 To correct this imbalance, he advo-
cated a shift in doctrinal emphasis towards the love that he saw revealed in
Christ, and which he believed precluded God from being so “cruel and brutal”
as to “send millions of people to the eternal flames of hell.”64
Ding’s ruminations culminated in the launching of the Theological
Construction campaign in November 1998. At the Sixth National Christian
Conference, a lianghui resolution calling for the “strengthening of theological
reflection” presented theological construction as a dialogue beneficial to theo-
logical understanding and the relationship between the Protestant church and
Chinese society:
Holding fast to our basic beliefs, building on a foundation of ‘loving

country, loving church’ (爱国爱教 aiguo aijiao), we must encourage the
sharing of different viewpoints with mutual respect, deeper exploration,
productive sharing and exchange in order to expound the treasures of
Scripture and enable the Chinese church to build on the sure foundation
of Jesus Christ and adapt all the better to our socialist society.65
Ding—also the former President of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary—

clearly presented his theology as a more correct reading of scripture, thus link-
ing Theological Construction with religious orthodoxy. He argued for the need
to “dilute” (淡化 danhua) the doctrine of justification through faith on the
grounds that it had been developed by Paul “to counter the Pharisees’ reliance
on observance of the law as the way to salvation.” The doctrine was not intended
to exclude people from God’s favor, but on the contrary “greatly enlarged the
63 K.H. Ting, Love Never Ends, trans. Janice Wickeri (Nanjing: Yilin, 2000), 508.
64 Ibid.
65 CCC/TSPM, “Resolution Regarding the Strengthening of Theological Reflection issued by
the Second Joint Meeting of the 6th Committee of the National TSPM and the 4th Session
of the China Christian Council, November 23, 1998,” CSJ 14, no. 1 (1999): 48.
182 CHAPTER 7
ranks of those who received the grace of salvation.” Thus, Ding argued, pastors
should not “talk about countless upright people going to hell.”66
While the Campaign was presented as a quest for the Christian truth and
the development of a Chinese theology, Ding was also motivated by United
Front concerns. He expressed dismay at the prospect that the fundamentalists’
emphasis on justification by faith might “lead to the contradiction between
belief and unbelief, which would lead to endless divisions, damaging the
nation’s stability.”67 He elucidated:
Some things unsuitable to socialist society that were drawn out of faith
in the past should be set aside, or at least be downplayed, while at the
same time, we should as much as possible draw out things which can be
beneficial to a socialist society. And that is why today we are promoting
theological construction.68
Lianghui representatives argued that in addition to developing an orthodox

Chinese theology that is suited to the Chinese political and cultural context,
the Theological Construction campaign would address the problem of “her-
esies” within the Chinese church.69 Accordingly, discussions held under the
rubric of Theological Construction occurred around such topics as the Second
Coming, divine revelation, miracles, and even the Chinese dragon.70 However,
the drive met with widespread resistance even within the TSPM and had
66 Ting, Love Never Ends, 493.

67 Ibid.
68 K.H. Ting, “Old Style Theological Thinking Needs Revision and Renewal,” CTR 14 (2000):
23. As Kindopp points out, the phrase translated in this quotation as “set aside, or at least
downplayed” actually means “eliminated immediately” in the Chinese original; the selec-
tive translation reflected the Amity News Service’s desire “to minimize fallout abroad.”
Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” 321.
69 Wang Chao (望潮), “Zhongguo, Shanghai jidujiao lianghui zai hu juxing zuotanhui
shengtao ‘Falun gong’ 中国、上海基督教两会在沪举行座谈会声讨‘法轮功’ ” [The
National and Shanghai branches of the Protestant lianghui hold forum in Shanghai, con-
demn “Falun Gong”], TF 3 (2001): 13; Xu Rulei (徐如雷), “Kaizhan shenxue sixiang jian-
she, dizhi yiduan fanlan 开展神学思想建设，抵制异端泛滥” [Engage in Theological
Construction, stem the tide of heresies], in 论邪教: 首届邪教问题国际研讨会论文
集, ed. Shehui wenti yanjiu congshu bianji weiyuanhui (社会问题研究丛书编辑委员
会) (南宁: 广西人民出版社, 2001).
70 Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Put Down Roots and Build, Strengthen Ourselves, Move with the
Times and Run the Church Well: Work Report of the 7th National Christian Conference,”
CTR 16 (2002): 6–20; Zhang Keyun, “Theological Reconstruction in Jiangsu,” CTR 16 (2002):
96–101.
70
50
40
30
20
10
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
“xiejiao” in full text 0 16 12 16 19 20 37 36 32 27 27 16 38 28 38 16 21 9 5
“yiduan” in full text 40 64 58 61 45 42 56 50 50 37 27 29 58 46 46 27 40 20 20
1994–2012.
minimal impact on congregations.71 Tian Feng’s circulation dropped thirty

percent after the campaign was launched; it was viewed by Christians as too
much like the political movements of the Mao years.72 The lianghui leadership’s
ability to impose its version of orthodoxy upon the Protestant flock was shown to
be limited.
Continuing the Trend, 2003–2013

Later in the first decade of the new millennium the ‘Falun Gong problem’ sub-
sided, and a more moderate tone characterized academic scholarship on new
religious movements.73 Correspondingly, the problem of ‘evil cults’ was no lon-
ger so prolific in lianghui publications (Figure 10).
While Figure 10 shows that the number of articles in Tian Feng discussing
“evil cults” and “heresies” rose over 2006–2008, this is because the magazine
71 Kindopp, “Politics of Protestantism in Contemporary China,” chap. 7.

72 Ibid., 311–15; Zhu Xiaohong, “Call for Dialogue and Cooperation: Reflections on Jianshe
or the Reconstruction of Theological Thinking,” in Christianity and Chinese Culture, ed.
Miikka Ruokanen and Paulos Huang (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2010),
320n2, 324–27.
184 CHAPTER 7
70
50
40
30
20
10
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
“xiejiao” in full text 0 16 12 16 19 20 37 36 32 27 27 16 19 14 19 16 21 9 5
“yiduan” in full text 40 64 58 61 45 42 56 50 50 37 27 29 29 23 23 27 40 20 20
1994–2012 (modified).
experimented with producing 24 issues rather than the usual 12 during those
years. If the incidence of the terms is halved to better reflect their average
spread over twelve issues (albeit crudely), a downward trend in the propor-
tionate number of articles discussing new religious movements is evident.
Over 2005–2010, Tian Feng published roughly as many articles discussing new
religious movements as it had prior to the nation-wide crackdown on Falun
Gong (Figure 11).
To be sure, the lianghui continued to condemn new religious movements.74
Overall, however, its publications concerning new religious movements were
markedly milder. Ni Guangdao, the Deputy Secretary of the TSPM, cautioned
that not all heresies were ‘evil cults,’ and not all extremist expressions of
Christianity were heretical.75 Even more remarkably, a Tian Feng article on
extremism (极端 jiduan), heresies (异端 yiduan) and cults (邪教 xiejiao)
considered the Shouters and Eastern Lightning to be heresies rather than
74 Yi Ming (毅明), “Jingti xiejiao ‘quannengshen’ de chuanbo 警惕邪教‘全能神’ 的传播”
[Beware the spread of the “Almighty God” cult], TF 10 (2009): 52–53; Xi Men (西门), “Jingti
yiduan xin dongxiang 警惕异端新动向” [Beware of new trends in heretical groups], TF
3 (2010): 28.
75 Ni Guangdao (倪光道), “Lun jiaonei de yixie jiduan xianxiang 论教内的一些极端现
象” [On some extremist phenomena within Protestantism], TF 4 (2009): 48–49.
cults.76 Such views were seldom articulated at the height of the state’s cam-
paign against Falun Gong.
Eastern Lightning’s doomsday proclamations in late 2012 brought the issue of
new religious movements to the fore of Christian media once again (Figure 12).
As authorities cracked down on the movement, churches held ‘anti-cult’ meet-
ings to denounce Eastern Lightning and to instruct Christians in dealing with
it; these were often attended by representatives from SARA or the United Front
Work Department.77 Tian Feng published a renewed spurt of articles against
Eastern Lightning and its predictions about the second coming of Christ,78
and in September 2013 the movement’s recent activities were singled out in
the Ninth Christian Congress’ Resolution Regarding Boycotting Heresies and
Opposing Cults.79 Much of the July 2014 edition of Tian Feng was devoted to
denouncing “The Cult of Almighty God” in the wake of the murder of a woman
in a fast food restaurant in Shandong province.
The lianghui, like the Chinese state, has been keen to reference interna-
tional anti-cult movements, and also to situate its response in the context of
church history, pointing to heresies such as Gnosticism in Jesus’ time.80 Yet the
76 Dong Yanliang (董延谅), “Jinfang jiduan, xiaochu yiduan, fangzhi xiejiao 谨防极端、消
除异端、防止邪教” [Beware of extremism, eliminate heresies, guard against evil cults],
TF 1 (2010): 52–54.
77 Ma Wei (马薇), “Yunnan shenxueyuan zuzhi xilie huodong dizhi dongfang shandian 云南
神学院组织系列活动抵制东方闪电” [Yunnan seminary organizes activities to resist
Eastern Lightning]. Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/news/lo_ex/2012/1221/121221160
.html. Accessed July 23, 2013; Yang Shuguang (杨曙光), “Ningbo shi Jidujiao lianghui zou-
fang, diaoyan bing zhaokai fan xiejiao gongzuo huiyi 宁波市基督教两会走访、调研并
召开反邪教工作会议” [Ningbo Protestant lianghui studies and convenes a conference
on anti-cult work]. Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/news/lo_ex/2012/1218/121218729
.html. Accessed July 23, 2013; Jia Fangzhen (贾防震), “Chengwu xian Jidujiao lianghui
zhaokai dizhi yiduan xiejiao gongzuo huiyi 成武县基督教两会召开抵制异端邪教工
作会议” [Protestant lianghui in Chengwu county hold convene conference on boycotting
heresies and cults]. Available at http://www.ccctspm.org/news/lo_ex/2012/1231/121231128
.html. Accessed July 23, 2013.
78 “Shibie he dizhi ‘quannengshen’ xiejiao zuzhi 识别和抵制 ‘全能神’ 邪教组织”
[Identifying and boycotting the “Almighty God” cultic organization], TF 3 (2013): 4–7;
Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁), “Jingti yiduan xiejiao liyong Jidujiao ‘moshilun’ zaocheng weihai
警惕异端邪教利用基督教 ‘末世论’ 造成危害”: 44.
79 TSPM Committee (中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会), “Zhongguo jidujiao dijiuci
daibiao huiyi guanyu dizhi yiduan fandui xiejiao de jueyi 中国基督教第九次代表会议
关于抵制异端反对邪教的决议” [Resolution of the Ninth Chinese Christian Congress
regarding boycotting heresies and opposing evil cults], TF 10 (2013): 13.
80 “Sects and Heresies—A Global Problem,” ANS, 1/2.2 (2001). Originally published in TF 1
(2001).
186 CHAPTER 7
70
60
Incidence of articles in Tian Feng
50
40
30
20
10
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
“xiejiao” in full text 0 16 12 16 19 20 37 36 32 27 27 16 19 14 19 16 21 9 5 26
“yiduan” in full text 40 64 58 61 45 42 56 50 50 37 27 29 29 23 23 27 40 20 20 42
figure 12 Incidence of articles in Tian Feng magazine using the terms xiejiao and yiduan,
1994–2013 (modified).
d iscussion here has shown that the domestic political context in which these
events have unfolded has affected their treatment; both the terminology used
to discuss new religious movements and the frequency with which they are
written about have followed the contours of the state’s reaction to spectacular
‘cultic’ events very closely (Figure 12). It is not at all clear that the ebbs and flows
in Tian Feng’s discussion are an accurate barometer of the levels of sectarian
activity in grassroots communities. One of the relatively few lianghui articles
on new religious movements in 2011, for example, mentioned that researchers
had found Protestant-related new religious movements to be active in 92 per-
cent of the counties and municipalities in an unspecified province two years
previously, suggesting significant levels of ongoing activity.81 Likewise, report-
ing on new religious movements in Tian Feng reached a nadir in 2012, only to
return abruptly to levels not seen since the campaign against Falun Gong after
authorities arrested one thousand members of the Church of Almighty God.
81 Gu Mengfei (顾梦飞), “H sheng Jidujiao yiduan ji xiejiao huodong diaocha fenxi H省基
heresies and cults in H province], NTR 1 (2001): 25.
Although the TSPM is clearly affected by the “authoritarian linguistic envi-

ronment” of the PRC,82 it would be erroneous to view the TSPM purely as a
stooge for the Chinese government. Christian leaders discourage new religious
movements on detailed theological grounds, and have pastoral concerns about
the inroads that new religious movements have made into Chinese churches.
As we will shortly see, house churches share most of these concerns. To dismiss
all TSPM literature as government propaganda would result in underappreciat-
ing the complexity of religious interactions in and around Christian communi-
ties, and the social significance of movements like Eastern Lightning.
Mainstream Protestants’ Response to New Religious Movements
Online Discussion of Heresy

While the lianghui purport to represent all Chinese Protestants, many
Protestants do not identify with these organizations or some of the theology
and policies prescribed by their leadership. Accordingly, the response of these
Protestants to new religious movements has differed from that of the lianghui.
Like lianghui sources, mainstream Protestants condemn new religious move-
ments such as Eastern Lightning on religious, moral and criminal grounds.
However, their discussions manifest a greater privileging of religious over
political concerns in questions of orthodoxy.
In the discussion which follows, I use the term ‘mainstream Protestants’ to
refer to believers who worship in house churches, and also the multitude of
believers who attend registered (TSPM) churches yet do not subscribe to key
aspects of the lianghui elites’ theology (such as its “diluting” of the doctrine of
justification through faith).83 Because they sometimes depart from the ortho-
doxies of the Protestant lianghui leadership and the CCP, and usually wor-
ship in unauthorized venues under the guidance of unauthorized preachers,
mainstream Protestants’ discussions of heterodoxy can be politically sensitive.
However, they are readily accessible in Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), which
82 Andrew Kipnis, “Suzhi: A Keyword Approach,” China Quarterly 186 (2006): 312.
83 Studies of contemporary Chinese Protestantism have observed precisely such a cleav-
age between these segments. See Jason Kindopp, “Fragmented yet Defiant: Protestant
Resilience under Chinese Communist Party Rule,” in God and Caesar in China: Policy
Implications of Church-State Tensions, ed. Jason Kindopp and Carol Lee Hamrin
(Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), 129; Ryan Dunch, “Christianity and
‘Adaptation to Socialism,’ ” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity and State
Formation, ed. Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 177.
188 CHAPTER 7
were the most popular forum for online discussion prior to the ascendancy of
the more private instant messaging service QQ around 2010. Protestants have
had a strong online presence relative to other religions in China,84 reflect-
ing recent decades of growth in the religion among young and well-educated
urbanites. Protestant websites by names such as “Cry in the Wilderness” (旷
野呼声 kuangye husheng) and “Grace Online” (恩典在线 endian zai xian)
serve as hubs for a broad range of Christian content, including hymns, memory
verses, poems, artworks, news bulletins, blogs, and BBS.85
Protestants have used BBS to ask how Christians should define and iden-
tify heresies and cults and to disseminate information about new religious
movements. In some cases, messages can run to several thousand characters
in length and engage in detailed theological critique, but most messages are far
shorter, as befits the social electronic format. Discussions are also initiated to
warn of a group that has appeared in a specific church community, or to share
an experience of a personal encounter with heresy. In March 2009, for exam-
ple, a dentist from Nanjing recorded his contact with an Eastern Lightning
evangelist “in order to enable more brothers and sisters in the Lord to recog-
nize and understand some of the methods of the evil cult ‘Eastern Lightning,’
and to guard against it.” Under the username of paul2005, he related his discov-
ery that a forty-five-year-old female former patient whom he had befriended
was actually an Eastern Lightning evangelist attempting to convert him in the
“deceptive” manner described in Chapter 6 of this book.86
In other cases, Protestants request prayer for a friend or family member who
has fallen prey to heresy, and solicit opinions of a suspect doctrine or person.
Participants in online forums variously advise fellow believers in such situa-
tions to call the police, to sever connections with any adherents, or to try and
persuade the ‘heretic’ to return to the Christian fold. When a participant by the
username of Purple Dragonfly recounted that some Eastern Lightning adher-
ents had come to his fellowship, and solicited opinions as to whether it was
84 David A. Palmer, “Cyberspace and the Emerging Chinese Religious Landscape: Preliminary
Observations,” in Cyber China: Reshaping National Identities in the Age of Information, ed.
Françoise Mengin (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 41–42.
85 Available at http://www.kyhs.me and www.edzx.com. Accessed September 19, 2014.
86 Paul 2005, “遭遇东方闪电” [Encounter with Eastern Lightning]. Available at http://bbs
.edzx.com/viewthread.php?tid=23888&highlight=%B6%AB%B7%BD%C9%C1%B5%E7.
Accessed July 10, 2009. The online conversation took an interesting turn when someone
responded that Paul’s description of the evangelist fitted that of his own relative. This
woman had joined Eastern Lightning six years prior and to her family’s chagrin had rarely
been home to visit her bedridden, eighty-year-old mother.
“okay” to take a look at Eastern Lightning’s books out of curiosity, a user named
“JulieforLord” posted the following response:
They are controlled by an evil spirit, [so] you shouldn’t be curious. In

the Bible, the Lord tells us not to even ask after this kind of people. Two
members of my family fell prey to them. They left home over a year ago,
walking out on their own children. Brothers and sisters please don’t be
deceived. They also attacked me, but by the grace of God I was able to
get out. We shouldn’t throw ourselves in harm’s way; burn their books the
moment you discover them.87
As in the case of the lianghui, the lexicon employed by mainstream Protestants

sometimes reflects the linguistic prescriptions of the CCP. In using the term
“evil cult” (xiejiao) in his BBS, for example, paul2005 indicated that anti-cult
discourses propagated by the state have permeated mainstream Protestantism.
The China Gospel Fellowship’s theological critique of Eastern Lightning like-
wise bore xiejiao in its title.88 However, some Protestants also demonstrate a
disregard for government pronouncements on new religious movements. In a
2013 thread titled “Is Eastern Lightning a heresy (yiduan) or a cult (xiejiao)?” for
example, one conversant commented that “You can’t count the government’s
definition.”89
A brief survey of offline mainstream Protestant sources on new religious
movements also indicates resistance to government constructions of ortho-
doxy. Use of the politicized term xiejiao notwithstanding, the book An Analysis
of the Eastern Lightning Cult does not comment on the group’s political status
or ambition. It instead concentrates its analysis on Eastern Lightning’s moral
turpitude, methods of proselytizing, and religious offences of “blaspheming
the Holy Spirit,” “slander” and “denigrating the Bible.”90 An anti-heresy cur-
riculum developed and circulated by the China Gospel Fellowship refers to
new religious movements as “heresies” (yiduan) and likewise refrains from
87 JulieforLord’s response was posted as a response to “Zenme shibie dongfang shandian?
怎么识别东方闪电?” [How to identify Eastern Lightning?]. Formerly available at http://
zanmei.net/bbs/viewthread.php?action=printable&tid=42408. Accessed January 18, 2006;
now defunct.
88 Zhang Dakai (张大开), Pouxi xiejiao dongfang shandian 剖析邪教组织东方闪电.
89 Contribution number 3 to BBS thread headed “Dongfang shandian shi yiduan haishi xiejiao?
东方闪电是异端还是邪教？” [Is Eastern Lightninga heresy or a cult?]. Available at www
.jonahome.net/bbs/dv_rss.asp?s=xhtml&boardid=11&id=73753&page=9. Accessed July 24,
2013.
90 Zhang Dakai (张大开), Pouxi xiejiao dongfang shandian 剖析邪教组织东方闪电.
190 CHAPTER 7
commenting on these movements’ political ambition or sedition.91 Offline as

in online, mainstream Protestant sources have been less concerned with the
political status, activities and implications of new religious movements than
have the lianghui.
Online Discussion of Orthodoxy

Online condemnation of new religious movements such as that of “JulieforLord”
is usually met with a chorus of brief affirmations such as “Amen” and “may the
Lord protect his flock.” All respondents condemn Eastern Lightning for “twist-
ing the Bible” and “stealing believers,” suggesting that they share an interpre-
tation of orthodoxy that transcends denominational differences and justifies
my use of term ‘mainstream Protestants.’92 This is affirmed by the fact that
the most popular Protestant websites are not clearly affiliated with any offline
organization, be it TSPM or unofficial churches. As the “About Us” page for
“Christnet” (基督网 Jiduwang) explains:
Christnet aims to provide a platform for online exchange between believ-

ers, denominations, and organizations, and hopes to open a new chap-
ter of online evangelism . . . Christnet does not come under any group,
church or organization, and is an independent ministry body not affili-
ated with any denomination.93
Indeed, the neutral and anonymous nature of these spaces enables interactions
between members of a broad spectrum of Protestant traditions, and thereby
helps to bridge pre-existing offline divides. The willingness of Protestants to
interact in such a way additionally suggests that identity as a member of an
official (TSPM) church or unofficial (‘house’) church is of secondary impor-
tance to identity as Protestant in the face of heterodox groups such as Eastern
Lightning.
Despite these commonalities, the status of some groups in relation to
Protestant orthodoxy is an issue of contention even among mainstream Chinese
Protestants. Such is the case for the All Sphere Church/Born Again group.
91 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端.

92 The foundation of the TSPM ostensibly heralded the “post-denominational” era of
Chinese Protestantism. In practice, however, differences persist, both as a result of mis-
sionary heritage and different theological and ritual emphases on the part of Chinese
believers.
93 Jidu wang (基督网), “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us]. Available at http://www
.jidunet.cn/about/aboutus.htm. Accessed July 24, 2013.
As this chapter has demonstrated, the lianghui’s stance toward this group is
unequivocal, and the government identified it as a cult in 1995. However, many
other Protestants allow the possibility that the group is generally orthodox.
The China Gospel Fellowship’s anti-heresy materials, for example, condemn
any teaching that weeping is a necessary sign of salvation but acknowledge
that not all believers who go by the name of the Born Again denomination
subscribe to this belief.94 Online discussions have also seen members of the
group defending the orthodoxy of their faith to guarded outsiders, who inter-
rogate them about their beliefs.95 Such discussion has persisted despite the
Protestant lianghui’s public condemnation of the Born Again sect, and state
prohibitions against posting “cultic” (邪教 xiejiao) or “superstitious” (迷信
mixin) materials in BBS.96 While participants must acknowledge these prohi-
bitions when joining many of these forums,97 this is evidently insufficient to
prevent either them or the moderators from challenging state injunctions, and
they do not fear the repercussions of transgressing them.
Cleavages in Protestants’ constructions of orthodoxy are also occasionally
evident in BBS discussions of the lianghui, even though members of official
and unofficial churches generally acknowledge each other as “brothers and sis-
ters” (弟兄姊妹 dixiong zimei). Paul2005’s anecdote of meeting with Eastern
Lightning members, for example, resulted in a critique of the lianghui’s theol-
ogy. While one contributor implied that the “closed” nature of house churches
made them more susceptible to heretical teachings, paul2005 condemned the
lianghui and the theology associated with its Theological Construction cam-
paign. The exchange proceeded as follows:
94 China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), Fangbei bianbo yiduan 防备辩驳异端, 191.
The handbook expresses a similar tentative acceptance of Catholics and Seventh Day
Adventists (145–52).
95 Jim, “Chongsheng pai shi yiduan ma? Xuyao xiangxi ziliao! 重生派是异端吗？需要详
细资料！” [Is the Born Again sect heretical? Need detailed information!] BBS thread initi-
ated on July 3, 2004. Formerly available at http://www.zanmei.net/bbs. Accessed March
29, 2007. For a similar, more recent discussion, see http://www.hnjdj.org/comment-
1165788-2.html. Accessed June 11, 2010.
96 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (中
华人民共和国信息产业部), “Hulianwang dianzi gonggao fuwu guanli guiding 互联网
电子公告服务管理规定” [Regulations for Broadcasting Bulletin Systems (BBS) on the
Internet]. Available at http://www.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11294912/n11296542/11957379
.html. Accessed July 30, 2013.
97 For example, http://lt.jdjfx.com/member.php?mod=register. Accessed September 19,
2014.
192 CHAPTER 7
guozi 147: Go to a big TSPM church (教堂 jiaotang); they’re a bit safer
[author’s note: i.e.: less likely to be heretical].
paul2005:
Going to a big TSPM church is a waste of time and life. I left a big TSPM
church. To put it bluntly, big TSPM churches just want you to be a good
person—i.e., justification through love. But Christ’s church is not like
this; we are justified through faith . . . without a firm foundation, it’s easy
to be blown to and fro by other teachings.
guozi 147:
Please don’t judge (without getting the facts) . . . maybe the TSPM church
you went to was like that . . . but the one I’m at isn’t. And the preaching
isn’t irrelevant like you said. If it was like that I wouldn’t listen either. If it
was as you say then all the Protestants would have long gone from the
TSPM churches.
paul2005:
I’m not judging anyone, I’m speaking God’s truth. The TSPM’s teaching is
not the real truth—justification through faith is smothered while justifi-
cation through love is held up, [they] barely talk about the judgment
of sin, [but rather] talk mostly about doing good. The atoning sacrifice of
Jesus is watered down, while entering heaven through works is held up as
orthodoxy.
guozi 147:
It’s ok, our church proclaims righteousness through faith . . . I’ve never
heard of ‘righteousness through love’ . . . I don’t know about the churches
you’ve been to, but the ones I’ve been to teach righteousness through
faith, believe in God, and lift high the cross.98
The discussion quoted here attests that while lianghui liberals led by Ding
have held out the fruits of Theological Construction as orthodoxy, this has
been rejected and resisted not only by Protestants who worship in house
churches, but also by many TSPM churchgoers and preachers. Indeed, the cur-
rent Statement of Faith on the lianghui’s website concurs with those of other
98 BBS thread headed Paul2005, “遭遇东方闪电” [Encounter with Eastern Lightning].
Available at http://bbs.edzx.com/viewthread.php?tid=23888&highlight=%B6%AB%B7
%BD%C9%C1%B5%E7. Accessed July 10, 2009.
Protestant websites in professing that “people fall short of God’s glory because
of sin, but because of faith through Jesus Christ, can obtain forgiveness, salva-
tion, and resurrection through his grace, and enjoy eternal life.”99
House churches’ formulation of orthodoxy was articulated in several state-
ments jointly issued by leaders of four of the largest house church networks in
November 1998. The first was a Confession of Faith, which was drafted in the
hope that it would “strengthen the faith of brothers and sisters, resist heresies
and cults and together forward the great revival of the Church in China.”100
Accordingly, it condemned doctrines that are specific to certain new religious
movements. The teaching that the Trinity is one entity with three modes of
manifestation, famously espoused by the Shouters, was refuted, as was the
teaching that Christ has returned to earth.101
Released in the same month that the lianghui’s Theological Construction
project was unveiled, the Confession also pointedly criticized the TSPM as it
stated opposition to “the unity of Church and state or the intermingling of the
Church and political power.” In a second statement, the house church leaders
elaborated upon this by stating that they believed government requirements
for registration to conflict with Biblical principles. The Three-Self movement
was “initiated by the government” and led by people who “propounded lib-
eral social gospel type of theology” or “were not even Christians,” whereas
house churches “developed from the traditions of the fundamentalists and
evangelicals.”102
As this statement reflects, some of the present debates over orthodoxy
within Chinese Protestantism are a reiteration of those that plagued it in the
twentieth century. The lianghui elite are the descendants of the ‘social gos-
pel’ theologians of the 1920s and 1930s, and continue to espouse a theology
that supports participation in the United Front as they did in the early 1950s.
Correspondingly, the present opposition of house churches to the lianghui
continues the legacy of evangelical Christian leaders such as Watchman Nee,
99 CCC/TSPM, “信仰宣告.” Cf. “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us]. Available at http://
www.kyhs.me/about/index.html. Accessed September 19, 2014; “Xinyang gaobai 信仰
告白” [Declaration of Faith]. Available at www.jidunet.cn/about/index.htm. Accessed
July 30, 2013.
100 Confession as reprinted in Lambert, China’s Christian Millions, 75.
101 Ibid., 73.
the Three-Self Movement,” CSJ 13, no. 3 (1998): 59–60. There has long been debate among
Protestants concerning the sincerity of Wu Yaozong and Ding Guangxun’s faith. Many
viewed the fact that Ding remained unscathed during the Cultural Revolution as evidence
of his membership of the CCP. Interviews, 2006.
194 CHAPTER 7
Wang Mingdao and Lin Xian’gao (Samuel Lamb) who resisted the formation of
the TSPM during the 1950s, and who continued the opposition of evangelicals
to modernist theologians in the 1920s and 1930s. This said, all condemn Eastern
Lightning.
Cooperation and Conflict
In its denunciations of heterodoxy over the past three decades the lianghui
leadership has followed the vocabulary favored by the CCP, reflecting its partic-
ipation in the United Front. Mainstream Protestants have largely confined their
criticism of new religious movements to religious and social considerations,
and have judged the liberal theology espoused by the late Ding Guangxun to be
heretical. Nevertheless, all Protestant groups abhor the majority of the move-
ments listed as ‘cults’ by the state; during the course of my research I failed
to find a single article or BBS post in defense of Eastern Lightning. Thus, at
the same time as highlighting divisions, new religious movements can serve to
unite fragmented Protestants against a common foe. Signs of modest coopera-
tion are evident in articles published by the lianghui, which reprint portions of
the China Gospel Fellowship’s anti-heresy training material.103
The specter of new religious movements may also engender a closer work-
ing relationship between churches and the state. From the CCP’s perspective,
the Protestant lianghui can be used to disseminate and legitimize an ortho-
doxy conducive to a harmonious socialist society, and to dissuade believers
from joining subversive religious movements. House churches, too, are surely a
lesser evil than new religious movements, which both predict and pray for the
demise of the CCP, and Christians may provide authorities with valuable intel-
ligence on new religious movements.104 From the churches’ perspective, the
state is uniquely powerful to quash new religious movements. Hence, when
China Gospel Fellowship leaders were abducted, their relatives approached
authorities in Beijing for assistance, and pastors now urge their ‘flocks’ to
report new religious movements to police.105
103 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan ‘mentuhui’ de neimu 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside the
heretical “Disciples”], TF 1 (2008): 31. Cf. China Gospel Fellowship (中华福音团契), 防备
辩驳异端, 98.
104 Wang Ao (王傲), “Qiantan fei zhengfu zuzhi zai fan xiejiao qingbao gongzuo zhong
de zuoyong 浅谈非政府组织在反邪教情报工作中的作用” [On the role of non-
governmental organizations in gathering intelligence against cults], 法制与社会 2 (2012).
105 “‘Zhaoyuan shijian’ dajia tan ‘招远事件’ 大家谈” [Everyone’s talking about the ‘Zhaoyuan
incident’], TF 7 (2014): 8.
Culturally, all Protestants have more in common with new religious move-
ments than they would care to admit. This is evident in shared epithets, such as
the phrase “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (披着羊皮的狼 pizhe yangpi de lang).
Matthew 7:15 records Jesus as warning “Watch out for false prophets. They
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” In the
1950s, Wu Yaozong (吴耀宗; Y.T. Wu), the inaugural leader of the TSPM, used
this phrase to describe foreign missionaries, but himself complained of being
labeled a heretic.106 Today, lianghui authors and participants in BBS describe
Eastern Lightning and other sectarian evangelists as such;107 Eastern Lightning
itself invokes the phrase in the illustration on the cover of its compilation of
anecdotes of judgment (Figure 3). Other phrases used by all groups include
“evil spirit” (邪灵 xieling) and “false Christ” (假基督 jia Jidu). This common
invective most likely not only reflects the fact that all groups draw upon the
Bible, but also the circulation of members and cultural elements between the
groups, as identified in Chapter 2 of this book.
In all of these cases, discourses of orthodoxy are central to religious iden-
tity and legitimation. Believers see themselves as followers of the True Way
(真道 zhen dao) and travelers on the Orthodox Road (正路 zheng lu); either
Jesus Christ or the Female Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”108 Hence,
while much writing on Chinese religion has emphasized believers’ pragmatic
concern for efficacy, some are also concerned with doctrine and ‘Truth.’109 Nor
is orthodoxy prescribed from above and accepted passively from below, but
passionately debated; there are many and vibrant interpretations of orthodox
Chinese Protestantism. Such discussions are not confined to the state, but are
close to the heart of contemporary Chinese Christians.
106 “Y.T. Wu’s Report,” in Merwin and Jones, eds., Documents of the Three-Self Movement, 34–36;
Wu Yao-tsung, “Christian Ideals Implemented by Communism,” in Christian Missions in
China: Evangelists of What?, ed. Jessie G. Lutz (Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1965
[1951]), 70.
107 Julie for Lord’s response was posted as a response to “Zenme shibie dongfang shandian?
怎么识别东方闪电?” [How to identify Eastern Lightning?]. Formerly available at http://
zanmei.net/bbs/viewthread.php?action=printable&tid=42408. Accessed January 18, 2006;
now defunct.
108 See John 4:16.
109 In this vein, see Clarke SJ, Virgin Mary and Catholic Identities in Chinese History, 7.
CHAPTER 8
Conclusion: Eastern Lightning in Local and

Global Perspective
This book was borne out of my simple intrigue with a religious movement that
teaches Jesus has returned to earth in the form of a Chinese woman. I wanted
to understand what made this teaching credible and attractive to believers,
and why Chinese Protestants and authorities were making such a fuss about
it. Through my reading of Eastern Lightning’s texts, I discovered that as well
as being one instance of the age-old, pan-cultural phenomenon that is mil-
lenarianism, the movement is very much at home in Chinese religious history.
Teachings such as a female Christ, apocalyptic warnings and millennial expec-
tations are not especially novel to the Chinese context.
The conclusion that Eastern Lightning draws on pre-existing religious
and cultural sources is hardly surprising, for all new religious movements do.
Christianity itself began as a new religious movement emerging from Judaism,
and first-century churches borrowed from local pagan beliefs.1 Nevertheless,
Eastern Lightning is unique in its admixture of teachings. It differs from popu-
lar Chinese religions in its organizational structure, soteriology, lack of effi-
cacious response, and the extent of its Christian references. It differs from
Christianity in its new scriptures, eschatological predictions, and teachings of
the first and second incarnations of God. Unlike the Eternal Mother of earlier
sectarian groups, Eastern Lightning’s Female Christ is not a maternal figure,
and does not prescribe meditation or body cultivation techniques. Finally,
Eastern Lightning lacks Falun Gong’s scientism and allusion to Buddhism.
Where, then, does Eastern Lightning fit in Chinese religion? This runs the
risk of being a Eurocentric question, as most Chinese were unconcerned by
such classification projects prior to the popularization of the term ‘religion’
(宗教 zongjiao) in the early twentieth century. (An exception to this was het-
erodox sects, which circulated scriptures emphasizing the importance of belief
in their respective teachings.)2 Nowadays, however, as Chapters 5 and 7 illus-
trated, the classification of Eastern Lightning within (or indeed, beyond) the
schema of ‘religion’ is central to the way in which it is treated by p
olitical and
1 Clinton E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface Between Christianity and Folk Belief
at Colossae (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1996).
2 Overmyer, Precious Volumes, 280–81.

Conclusion 197
religious leaders. Where Eastern Lightning fits is therefore not just a Western
or even an academic question, but one of great political and practical concern
in China today.
Eastern Lightning is best understood as part of a heterodox tradition that
hybridizes elements of Christianity and popular religions. The big red dragon
indicates that Christian motifs have been indigenized by believers at the grass-
roots, and the Female Christ exemplifies the way in which popular religious
notions have affected interpretations of Christianity and led to religious inno-
vation. The boundaries of this tradition are blurred and porous, but it is char-
acterized by millenarian teachings that refer to biblical themes and characters,
the presence of supernatural powers and phenomena in everyday life, and the
rejection of mainstream political and religious prescriptions. Commonalities
between Eastern Lightning and the Taipings regarding the dragon and the read-
ing of Genesis as foretelling a female divinity lead one to wonder how continu-
ous this heterodox tradition might be, and how it might continue to evolve.
Eastern Lightning and the Glocalization of Christianity
This book has considered Eastern Lightning in the Chinese context to identify
its cultural origins, and to foreground the innovations and agency of those who
are involved with and against it. Historically, studies of Christianity in China
have tended either to represent local agency as a response to foreign activity, or
to focus on East-West cultural exchange, which can still insinuate that China is
worth studying for its relationship with the West. It is refreshing now to invert
this weighting, and consider Eastern Lightning’s relationship to global devel-
opments in something of a postscript.
Eastern Lightning can be viewed as part of a global shift in Protestantism
from northern continents to southern continents. Whereas for the past five
centuries Christianity has been bound up with European (-derived) civili-
zations, over the past hundred years, its “center of gravity” has shifted.3 Of
the countries with the largest overall growth per hundred Christians in 2010,
seven of the top ten were located in Africa and three in Asia, while six of
the ten largest overall losers per hundred Christians were in Europe.4 The
popular view of Christianity as a Western or European religion is therefore
outdated, and a “next Christendom” is already to be found in Africa, Latin
3 Jenkins, Next Christendom, 1.

4 Todd M. Johnson and Kenneth R. Ross, Atlas of Global Christianity (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2009), 60–61.
198 CHAPTER 8
America, and Asia. Although assessments of Chinese Christians as “changing

the global balance of power” or numbering 140 million are probably inflated,5
Eastern Lightning has surely emerged from a time in which an ascendant
“southern” Christianity is exploring the relationship between Christianity and
indigenous cultures.
Contemporaneous with this shift, Pentecostal and charismatic forms of
Christianity have grown to account for roughly two-thirds of Christians in
Asia.6 In China, Pentecostalism has been the “dominant form” of Christianity
in the reform era.7 Chen-Yang Kao attributes this to the reinforcing of religious
elements associated with Pentecostalism during the Cultural Revolution—
specifically, healing, exorcism, dreams, and the concept of spiritual warfare.8
According to Kao, this Pentecostal style of religion developed not due to the
work of foreign missionaries, but as an autochthonous response to the closure
of religious institutions in China. Nevertheless, it happened to exhibit traits
shared by other Pentecostal movements throughout the world.9 Although
‘classical’ Pentecostalism emerged from the United States, many indigenous
versions predated it or emerged concurrently. Korea and India experienced
Pentecostal revivals in the first decade of the twentieth century,10 and there
were “similar manifestations” of religion in Africa, England, Russia and Latin
America prior to that.11 Contemporary Chinese house churches embraced the
Pentecostal style of religion in a similarly organic fashion.
5 Ibid., 140; Aikman, Jesus in Beijing.

6 Hwa Yung, “Pentecostalism and the Asian Church,” in Asian and Pentecostal: The
Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia, ed. Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (Oxford:
Regnum Books International, 2005), 38; Mark Hutchinson and John Wolffe, A Short
History of Global Evangelicalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 225.
7 Madsen, “Signs and Wonders,” 29; Nanlai Cao, “Gender, Modernity, and Pentecostal
Christianity in China,” in Global Pentecostalism in the 21st Century, ed. Robert W. Hefner
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013), 149. See also Chen-Yang Kao, “The House
Church Identity and Preservation of Pentecostal-Style Protestantism in China,” in
Christianity in Contemporary China: Socio-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Francis Khek Gee Lim
(London: Routledge, 2013), 208, 216.
8 Kao, “Cultural Revolution,” 175, 172.
9 Ibid., 183; Yung, “Pentecostalism and the Asian Church,” 43ff.
10 Allan Anderson, “The Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements,” in The Cambridge History
of Christianity, Vol. 9: World Christianities c. 1914–2000, ed. Hugh McLeod (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2006), 90; Anderson, “Revising Pentecostal History in Global
Perspective,” 153ff.
11 Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian
Social Engagement (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 18.
Conclusion 199
Kao argues that this homegrown version of global Pentecostalism is the

key to understanding popular Chinese Protestantism. Whereas scholars have
tended to ascribe the “signs and wonders” in contemporary Protestantism
to interaction with popular religion, Kao argues that Pentecostalism offers a
superior framework of understanding (although he acknowledges that the
religion manifests syncretic tendencies). This is because Chinese Christians
profess antagonism towards indigenous traditions even while borrowing from
them, and the coexistence of these contrary inclinations is characteristic of
Pentecostalism. In the words of Joel Robbins, Pentecostalism “accepts local
enchanted cosmologies only to attack them.”12
Might Eastern Lightning, too, be better understood as global Pentecostalism
than as a product of religious interaction? Certainly, the phenomenon offers
to explain why Eastern Lightning condemns popular religious rituals such
as burning paper money and yet promotes anecdotes of retribution and dreams;
it explains why Eastern Lightning finds the dragon to be a potent symbol, but
associates it with evil rather than beneficence. Another important charac-
teristic of Pentecostalism is the prominence accorded to the dualist struggle
between the divine and demonic,13 and this might also account for one of
Eastern Lightning’s most central teachings—that China is the most ‘backward’
of places because its people have been most ‘corrupted’ by the devil (aka CCP).
Describing Eastern Lightning as Pentecostal would require drastic qualifi-
cation, however. Without wanting to be dogmatic, it is clear that key aspects
of Eastern Lightning’s teaching place it beyond the bounds of Christianity.
Eastern Lightning’s denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ prior to his adult min-
istry, upholding of its own scriptures as more authoritative than the Bible, and
worship of a Female Christ are all at odds with core Christian doctrines, and
thus better understood as belonging to a new religious movement. Moreover,
Eastern Lightning’s understanding of the gifts and role of the Holy Spirit differs
from that of Pentecostals.14 On the whole, Eastern Lightning’s texts manifest
an authoritarian and bureaucratic bent rather than encouraging the democ-
ratization of religious interpretation as Pentecostalism tends to do (for exam-
ple, through prophecy). In Eastern Lightning’s texts, the Holy Spirit is more a
12 Kao, “Cultural Revolution,” 183–84. Kao quotes Joel Robbins, “The Globalization of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity,” Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (2004): 127.
13 Robbins, “Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity,” 128–29.
14 Cf. Allan Anderson, “Introduction: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia,” in
Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia, ed. Allan Anderson
and Edmond Tang (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2005), 2; Madsen, “Signs and
Wonders,” 18, 23.
200 CHAPTER 8
force for sober obedience than for ecstatic inspiration, enabling believers to
withstand torture at the hands of police and remain steadfast in their loyalty to
the organization.15 Speaking in tongues, prophecy, and miracles are either dis-
missed or downplayed, and tales of visions and dreams serve only to reinforce
the movement’s authority. It is of course entirely possible that some believ-
ers adopt a more euphoric and experiential emphasis in their personal spiri-
tual life as is found in Chinese Protestantism at large, but overall, describing
Eastern Lightning as Pentecostal seems to complicate as much as illuminate.
A way of considering global processes that might contribute to our under-
standing of Eastern Lightning more substantially is to acknowledge both
homogenizing and heterogenizing tendencies in globalization. Specifically,
the concept of glocalization emerged from the disciplines of business and
marketing in the 1980s–90s, and was introduced by Roland Robertson into
the social scientific field as he argued that “globalization . . . has involved and
increasingly involves the creation and the incorporation of locality.”16 Eastern
Lightning demonstrates the penetration of elements of Christian culture into
much of China. However, rather than attesting to the “triumph of culturally
homogenizing forces,” it is a microcosm of a far more symbiotic relationship
between the universal and particular, as indigenous elements are revitalized
and re-worked in sync with the once-foreign.17 We have seen this dialectical
dynamic not only in Eastern Lightning’s teachings, but also in the Chinese
state’s anti-cult campaigns, as discussions of xiejiao infuse Ming-Qing meth-
ods of managing heterodox religious associations with the rationales of mod-
ern, international anti-cult movements. Similarly, while churches worldwide
deplore ‘heresies,’ Chinese Protestants’ thinking about them has been influ-
enced by the history and politics of Protestantism in twentieth-century China.
More than pointing to the compatibility of global and local (as ‘indigeniza-
tion’ and ‘inculturation’ also do), glocalization suggests the power of the local
in shaping the global.18 In this vein, Eastern Lightning has set its sights beyond
China. In accordance with the prophecy that “lightning that comes from the
east is visible even in the west,” it anticipates that its teachings will spread
15 Cf. Robert W. Hefner, “The Unexpected Modern: Gender, Piety, and Politics in the Global
Pentecostal Surge,” in Global Pentecostalism in the 21st Century, ed. Robert W. Hefner
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013), 2.
16 Roland Robertson, “Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity,” in
Global Modernities, ed. Mike Featherstone, Scott M. Lash, and Roland Robertson (London:
Sage, 1995), 40.
17 Ibid., 25.
18 Ibid., 40.
Conclusion 201
throughout the world and gain recognition in Western nations.19 Founder Zhao
Weishan is reported to have entered the US and sought political asylum on the
basis of religious persecution in around the year 2000, possibly with “Lightning”
wife Yang Xiangbin, and a small number of followers meet there.20 By 2014 The
Church had been reported to be proselytizing aggressively in Taiwan and Hong
Kong,21 and the group’s website, Facebook page and YouTube uploads also
indicated revamped attempts to recruit from Chinese-speaking communities
in San Francisco, Seattle, England, Canada, Italy, Sweden, and South Korea.22
It is hard to envisage Eastern Lightning gaining much currency in the West,
but its diffusion of Christian cultural elements may contribute indirectly to
‘southern’ Christianity, and religiosity in the Chinese diaspora. Whereas dis-
cussions of the Chinese Christian contribution to the rest of the world usually
reference relatively elite groups such as TSPM/CCC leaders, cultural Christians
and boss Christians,23 Protestant-related new religious movements suggest
that an equally significant exchange might be occurring at a popular level.
Sectarian societies have initiated East-West cultural flows since the nineteenth
century.24 While it may seem unlikely that a Female Christ could have any seri-
ous impact beyond the PRC, she would not be the nation’s first religious export.
The Future of Eastern Lightning
International efforts aside, from humble beginnings in poor, rural areas of

Henan province, Eastern Lightning has succeeded in transplanting itself
19 Matthew 24:27; Church of Almighty God, “The Seven Thunders Peal,” in Church of
Almighty God, The Word Has Appeared in the Flesh, contents p. 3, item 1.
20 Aikman, Jesus in Beijing, 243; Forney, “Jesus Is Back, and She’s Chinese.” For several years
from 2002, Eastern Lightning’s website and literature listed P.O. boxes in Bayside and
West Nyack, New York, for its Morning Star publishing house. In 2005 I met with a Chinese
Christian who claimed to have had several conversations with Zhao in Queens, New York,
in 2002.
21 http://anticag.org/; Christian Tribune (基督教論壇報), “Taiwan jidujiao zhong jiaohui
lianhe shengming 台灣基督教眾教會聯合聲明” [Taiwan Protestant churches issue
joint declaration]. Available at http://www.ct.org.tw/news/detail/2013-00561. Accessed
September 6, 2014.
22 https://www.facebook.com/godfootsteps (accessed July 12, 2013); http://www.youtube
.com/godfootsteps (accessed July 12, 2013).
23 For example Peter Tze Ming Ng, Chinese Christianity: An Interplay between Global and
Local Perspectives (Leiden: Brill, 2012).
24 Jansen, “Sectarian Religions and Globalization in Nineteenth-Century China.”
202 CHAPTER 8
throughout China, such that the areas targeted in a 2012 crackdown on the
group were in the western provinces of Qinghai and Guizhou. Like some
Protestant house church organizations, Eastern Lightning has reportedly used
the old CCP tactic of building up support bases in the countryside from which
to “encircle” cities (以农村包围城市 yi nongcun baowei chengshi),25 and thus
is increasingly found in urban areas, including Beijing and the southern indus-
trial city of Guangzhou.26 It evidently has extensive financial resources with
which to fund this expansion—Chinese media report that in 2012, tithes for
its Shandong region alone totaled 44 million yuan, and in 2013, Zhao spent 10
million yuan promoting the group in Hong Kong.27
Increasingly, Eastern Lightning’s websites depict the movement as attract-
ing upper-middle class, urban members. YouTube clips, social media pages,
MP3 files and online discussion forums demonstrate technological sophisti-
cation, and pages in English, Korean and traditional Chinese suggest cosmo-
politanism. Videos feature footage of staid, well-dressed members meeting
in office spaces and appreciating Church choirs in concert halls.28 Anecdotes
of judgment, dreams and visions are still offered for download, so this new
emphasis is part of a strategy of expansion rather than a complete disowning
of the group’s enchanted roots. Nevertheless, Eastern Lightning’s online pro-
jection is a far cry from rural Henan, and the ecstatic paroxysms of the move-
ment’s quasi-shamanic origins.
These developments lead one to wonder what Eastern Lightning’s future
might hold. In light of the dynamic and possibly fragmented nature of Eastern
Lightning, I shall explore some possibilities rather than make a confident or
technical prediction here, but my discussion is loosely informed by s ociological
25 Li Huishan (李辉山), “Hexie shehui shiyuzhong nongmin jingshen xinyang de chonggou
和谐社会视阈中农民精神信仰的重构” [Reconstructing peasants’ faith on the thresh-
old of harmonious society], 兰州交通大学学报 32, no. 2 (2013); Shi Aidong (施爱东),
“Mori yaoyan de hudie xiaoying ji qi chuanbo dongli 末日谣言的蝴蝶效应及其传播
动力,” 56. Cf. Koesel, “Rise of a Chinese House Church,” 580.
26 Carrie Gracie, “The Chinese Cult that Kills ‘Demons.’ ” Available at http://www.bbc.com/
news/world-asia-china-28641008. Accessed September 6, 2014; Wu Minggao (吴明高),
“Xiejiao weifa fanzui hudong de qushi ji chuzhi duice 邪教违法犯罪活动的趋势及处
置对策,” 82.
27 Tian Liang (田亮), Li Jingtao (李静涛), and Huang Ying (黄滢), “Xiejiao jiaozhu zui’e
zhenxiang 邪教教主罪恶真相,” 27.
28 See clips entitled 東方之光演唱會 and 永远的使命 at http://tv.kingdomsalvation
.org/. Accessed September 5, 2014; also Church of Almighty God, “Touguo Shandong
Zhaoyuan xiong’an kan shishi zhenxiang 透過山東招遠兇案看事實真相” [The truth
as evidenced by the Zhaoyuan murder].
Conclusion 203
analyses of religious movements as well as the historical precedents discussed

in Chapters 1 and 5 of this book.29
First, Eastern Lightning could become more conciliatory towards its adver-
saries in order to pursue growth. Over the past decade, Eastern Lightning has
toned down its anti-Christian invective. Promotional videos now refer to its
members as “ordinary Christians,” in contrast to the condemnation of Christians
found in its 2002 testimonies of judgment.30 However, if Eastern Lightning is
trying to endear itself to Chinese Christians and their supporters abroad, they
have not met with much success. Experience to date suggests that Protestants
in the Chinese diaspora are not nearly as open to Eastern Lightning as those in
rural north China, where disappointments and guanxi abound, and a Female
Christ who dispenses judgment seems far less intuitive to Westerners than to
Chinese. Both Chinese and Western audiences are increasingly educated about
the ‘cult’ and its alleged violence, thanks to media attention in 2012 and 2014.
For the first time, non-Protestant members of the public are voicing concerns
about the group, forming non-governmental associations to oppose it.31
Second, Eastern Lightning could rebel in a more concentrated and spec-
tacular fashion than it has done to date, following in the footsteps of the
Taipings or Falun Gong. This seems more likely than the previous option, as
Eastern Lightning shows no signs of toning down its hostility towards the CCP.
A video uploaded to the Church’s Youtube channel in June 2014 condemns the
CCP for the mass movements of the Maoist years, the Long March and, star-
tlingly, for “initiating” (发动 fadong) the Sino-Japanese war of 1937–45. Even
more provocatively, it paints the Church as the latest victim in a long line of
conspiracies in which the CCP has framed dissenting movements to justify
their suppression and “massacre” (屠杀 tusha).32 Precedents cited include the
1989 pro-democracy movement, protests in Tibet, and Falun Gong. Alignment
with these movements will only intensify the CCP’s wrath towards Eastern
Lightning.
Alternatively, Eastern Lightning could simply continue to await the millen-
nium, as it has done since the failed prophecy of 2000 (and possibly 2012). In
29 Bryan R. Wilson, Magic and the Millennium (London: Heinemann, 1973), 27, 36–67, 451–
52, 495; Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, A Theory of Religion (New York: Peter
Lang, 1987), 267, 270; H. Richard Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (New
York: H. Holt and Company, 1929).
30 See note 28 above.
31 www.fqnslm.com; http://www.xjshzzj.com/h-index.html. Accessed July 16, 2013.
32 Church of Almighty God, “Touguo Shandong Zhaoyuan xiong’an kan shishi zhenxiang
透過山東招遠兇案看事實真相.”
204 CHAPTER 8
the long run, eschatological anticipation may prove difficult to sustain, par-
ticularly if negative publicity about the group frustrates recruitment drives for
new members who are unwearied by waiting. In such circumstances, schism
is likely.
Thus, Eastern Lightning could produce offshoots, which in time may come
to outlive or overshadow it. The Protestant-related cultic milieu in China sees
successive movements rise and fall, and there are signs that Eastern Lightning
is already progenerating, however unwittingly and unsuccessfully. In August
2014, five alleged members of the Church of Almighty God were tried in con-
nection with the May murder of a woman in a fast food restaurant in Zhaoyuan
city of Shandong province. Zhang Lidong 张立冬, his daughters Zhang Fan
张帆 and Zhang Hang 张航, his partner Zhang Qiaolian 张巧联, and his part-
ner’s friend Lü Yingchun 吕迎春 had been soliciting strangers’ cell phone num-
bers in the diner for the purpose of proselytizing. When Wu Shuoyan 吴硕艳,
a sales assistant in a nearby women’s clothing store, refused to divulge hers, the
quintet declared her an “evil spirit” and beat her to death with a mop handle.33
International media outlets repeated the Chinese assessment of the Church
of Almighty God as bizarre and violent. What they overlooked were Lü
Yingchun and Zhang Fan’s statements to the court that although they started
out as members of Eastern Lightning (in 1998 and 2007 respectively), they had
outgrown it. In Lü’s words,
Zhang Fan and I are the only spokespeople for the true ‘Almighty God.’
The one that the state is cracking down on is Zhao Weishan’s ‘Almighty
God,’ not our ‘Almighty God.’ They are the fake ‘Almighty God’; only we
are the true ‘Almighty God.’34
Eastern Lightning’s blog wasted no time in pointing out this divergence and
distancing itself from the “psychopaths.”35
33 “Chinese Cult Murder Trial Opens in Shandong.” Available at http://www.bbc.com/news/

world-asia-china-28857395. Accessed September 29, 2014.
34 Yang Feng (杨锋), “Zhaoyuan xue’an beigaoren fating zibai: Wo jiu shi shen 招远血案被
告人法庭自白：我就是神” [Court confession of accused in Zhaoyuan murder: I am
God]. Available at http://news.qq.com/a/20140822/067021.htm. Accessed September 28,
2014.
35 Xiao Li, “An Extensive Exposure to the Sinister Intention of the Evil CCP’s High-Profile
Public Trial on the Psychopaths (sic).” Available at http://en.blog.hidden-advent.org/
an-extensive-exposure-to-the-sinister-intention-of-the-evil-ccps-high-profile-public-
trial-on-the-psychopaths/. Accessed September 26, 2014.
Conclusion 205
Evidently, Eastern Lightning itself has become a resource for religious inno-
vators. As this book goes to press, the story of The Church of Almighty God con-
tinues to develop apace. It remains to be seen whether it will erupt into a larger
conflict with the state on the scale of Falun Gong and earlier sectarian move-
ments. Either way, the Female Christ represents a tradition that is a fixture of
the Chinese religious landscape. Her religion is forged from centuries-old anec-
dotes of retribution and visions, an indigenous goddess, popular Christianity,
and mass political movements. The state and Protestant churches’ responses
to her have similarly been shaped by history, and varied over decades. They
have not succeeded in eliminating a subculture of heterodox Protestantism,
which continues to simmer. It may not always make headlines, but will con-
tinue to unfold as believers in China dream and proselytize, and authorities
admonish and arrest them.
Appendix 1
Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning’s

Chinese Texts
• Arranged alphabetically by pinyin of short title where cited in footnotes,

or title.
• All URLs current as of April 2015 unless otherwise indicated. Note, however, that

URLs and order of contents change frequently. If this happens, the reader should
still be able to locate most of these sources by f ollowing links from www.hidden-
advent.org.
• Early hard copies are attributed to Morning Star Publishing (晨星出版社
Chenxing chubanshe); more recently to Church of Almighty God (全能神教会
Quannengshen jiaohui).
• Asterisk (*) indicates hard copy obtained by author.
Title: 达到办事有原则必须进入的真理实际
Dadao banshi you yuanze bixu jinru de zhenli shiji
[Truths which must be grasped in order to manage things in a
principled fashion]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/principles.html
Notes / description: Preface is dated October 20, 2011. Comprised of 162 excerpts
from scripture, sermons and other materials.
Title: 答对媒体记者采访关键在于怎样见证神的作工
Dadui meiti jizhe caifang guanjian zaiyu zenyang jianzheng shen
de zuogong
[Witnessing to God’s work is the key in responding to media
interviews]
URL: https://www.hidden-advent.org/inst-c.html?k=20130110
Notes / description: Circular dated January 10 2013.
Title: 各宗派首领被神话语征服的铁证
Ge zongpai shouling bei shen huayu zhengfu de tiezheng
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/tiezheng-index-1.html
Notes / description: 138 testimonies from Eastern Lightning adherents who led
Christian churches and preached against Eastern Lightning

208 Appendix 1
prior to their conversion. English version titled “Ironclad Proofs

of Being Conquered by God’s Word,” developed March 2004.
Title: 给各地教会神选民的一封信
Gei ge di jiaohui shen xuanmin de yifeng xin
[A letter to God’s elect in churches everywhere]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/inst-c.html?k=20121216
Notes / description: Dated December 16, 2012.
Title: 跟随着羔羊唱新歌*
Gensuizhe gaoyang chang xin’ge*
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/songs-txt.html
Notes / description: Lyrics and MP3 files for a selection of hymns using portions
of scripture and adherents’ reflections are available for down-
load. The number of hymns available has gradually increased
over the past decade. A hard copy obtained by the author in
2006 contained 712 and 307 hymns of each type respectively.
English compilation of lyrics is entitled “Sing a New Song with
the Lamb.”
Short title: 关于教会工作

Title: 关于教会工作的交通讲道与教会工作安排历年汇编
Guanyu jiaohui gongzuo de jiaotong jiangdao yu jiaohui gongzuo
anpai linian huibian
[Compilation of plans and talks concerning church work over
the years]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/anpai1–1.html
Notes / description: Covers the period from August 2003 to the end of 2011. 1432 pages.
Title: 关于我们
Guanyu women
URL: https://www.hidden-advent.org/about.html
Notes / description: Electronic “About Us” statement providing a brief history of the
Church. An earlier statement, “关于我们” (2005), was formerly
available from http://chinese.hidden-advent.org/about_us.php
Title: 国度福音见证问答*
Guodu fuyin jianzheng wenda*
Chinese Texts 209
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/fuyin-index-1.html
Notes / description: Rebuttal of 77 objections that Christians may have to Eastern
Lightning, with reference to the Bible. English version titled
“Questions and Answers on the Testimony of the Kingdom
Gospel.”
Title: 国度福音讲道专辑
Guodu fuyin jiangdao zhuanji
[Sermons on the Kingdom Gospel]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/fuyin25-index.html
Notes / Description: Transcription of 30 sermons; 278 pages.
Title: 话在肉身显现*
Hua zai roushen xianxian*
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/shenhua-index-1.html
Notes / description: Eastern Lightning’s scripture. Available from website from
late 2002. Hard copy is 1231 pages; for further description see
Chapter 1 of this book. English version is entitled “The Word
Appears in the Flesh.”
Title: 基督话语三百条真理问答
Jidu huayu sanbai tiao zhenli wenda
[300 questions and answers about God’s word]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/sanbai1.html
Notes / description: 300 questions and answers on the “vision” and “implementa-
tion” of Eastern Lightning’s scripture, The Word Appears in the
Flesh. Includes an appendix addressing the eternal fate of various
groups of people, such as those who reject Eastern Lightning.
Title: 教会工作原则手册
Jiaohui gongzuo yuanze shouce
[Handbook of principles for church work]
URL: http://holyspiritspeaks.org/gongzuoan/ (now defunct)
Notes / description: Available from Eastern Lightning’s website for several months
in early-mid 2006. It is referred to in a more recent compilation,
关于教会工作 (p. 638).
Title: 基督与教会工人的座谈纪要
Jidu yu jiaohui gongren de zuotan jiyao
210 Appendix 1
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/hejiao1.html
Notes / description: 47 essays, organized into two parts. Part 1: Adherents’ summa-
ries of recorded talks given by the Female Christ. Part 2: ser-
mons and responses to questions delivered by church leaders.
English version entitled “Selected Preachings of the Leaders
from Different Levels in the Church.”
Title: 接受顺服神的作工才是最有福的人
Jieshou shunfu shen de zuogong cai shi zui youfu de ren
[Those who accept and obey God’s work are most blessed.]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/obedience-index.html
Notes / Description: 100 essays about adherents who are faithful during trials and
thus avoid disaster (such as the 2008 Sichuan earthquake),
while those who “resist God” meet with it. 538 pages. Published
either late 2012 or 2013.
Title: 经历基督话语审判刑罚的见证
Jingli Jidu huayu shenpan xingfa de jianzheng
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/jingli1.html
Notes / description: 500 testimonies from adherents whose faith was strengthened
after experiencing trials and reading Eastern Lightning texts.
English version entitled “Testimonies of Experiencing the
Judgment of the Word of Christ.” Previous Chinese edition titled
“基督审判台前的见证” ( Jidu shenpan taiqian de jianzheng)
contained 1800 testimonies.
Title: 全能神教会的行政、工作安排与教会带领侍奉神的原
则 Quannengshen jiaohui de xingzheng, gongzuo anpai yu jiao-
hui dailing shifeng shen de yuanze
[Principles for the administration of the Church of Almighty
God, work plans and church leaders serving God]
URL: http://truth-way-life.org/index.php?cccpage=Jobs_And_
Administration (now defunct)
Notes / description: Available in April 2004; superseded by 2006.
Title: 全能神教会，末后的方舟
Quannengshen jiaohui, mohou de fangzhou
[The Church of Almighty God, The ark in the end-times]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/ticket-index.html
Chinese Texts 211
Notes / description: Compilation of excerpts from The Word Has Appeared in the
Flesh. Published in 2012.
Title: 上面解答问题的回信：到底怎样传福音见证神才合神
心意
Shangmian jieda wenti de huixin: daodi zenyang chuan fuyin
jianzheng shen cai he shen xinyi
[Reply from the top to a question: How to spread the gospel and
testify to God in accordance with His intention].
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/inst-c.html?k=20121215
Notes / description: Dated December 15, 2012.
Title: 神三步作工的纪实精选
Shen san bu zuogong de jishi jingxuan
[Highlights of God’s three stages of work]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/sanbu.html
Notes / description: Published September 2005. Recounts Bible stories from Old
and New Testaments, also extracts from The Word Appears in
the Flesh.
Title: 神隐秘降临作工的见证汇编
Shen yinmi jianglin zuogong de jianzheng huibian
[Testimonies to God’s hidden descent and work]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/huibian.html
Notes / description: 130 conversion stories from Eastern Lightning adherents who
had strongly opposed the group when they were Christians.
Began to be uploaded onto website from May 2003.
Title: 圣灵引导人归向全能神的见证
Shengling yindao ren guixiang quannengshen de jianzheng
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/yindao-index.html
Notes / description: 186 testimonies of Christians who have received dreams and rev-
elations, 111 who have been punished for rejecting God, 10 who
have witnessed miracles. Testimonies began to be uploaded
onto website from May 2003. Translated as Testimonies to the
Holy Spirit’s Guiding People to Turn to the Almighty God.
Title: 识破撒但的诡计才能站住见证
Shipo Sadan de guiji cai neng zhanzhu jianzheng
212 Appendix 1
[You must see through Satan’s schemes if you are to stand firm
in your witness]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/fanbo-index-1.html
Notes / description: 131 essays rebutting Christians’ criticisms of Eastern Lightning.
Short title: 受惩罚

Title: 基督教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型事例*
Jidujiao gezong gepai didang quannengshen shou chengfa de
dianxing shili*
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/chengfa-index.html
Notes / description: Hard copy was first printed in June 2002; electronic version
available from website shortly thereafter. Comprises 887 cases
of Christians who died because of accident or illness after
rejecting Eastern Lightning. For cover image and discussion,
see Chapter 3 and Figure 3 of this book. English version entitled
“Typical Cases of Punishment for Resisting the Almighty God.”
Title: 透過山東招遠兇案看事實真相
Touguo Shandong Zhaoyuan xiong’an kan shishi zhenxiang
[The truth as evidenced by the Zhaoyuan murder]
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMBDP2297VA&list=UU6
7Rl9H5ihh_Z6IgAbk8Uqw
Notes / description: 26-minute video presentation uploaded in June 2014.
Title: 只有信全能神才能达到蒙拯救 (传福音实用手册)

Zhiyou xin quannengshen cai neng dadao meng zhengjiu (Chuan
fuyin shiyong shouce)
[Salvation can be attained only through belief in the Almighty
God: A practical handbook for evangelism]
URL: http://www.hidden-advent.org/handbook1.html
Notes / description: Four parts.
Appendix 2
Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning’s

English Texts
• Arranged alphabetically by short title where cited in footnotes, or title.

• All URLs current as of April 2015 unless otherwise indicated. Note, however, that
URLs and order of contents change frequently. If this happens, the reader should
still be able to locate most of these sources by following links from www.holyspirit
speaks.org.
• Asterisk (*) indicates hard copy obtained by author.
Title: About Us
URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/about/
Notes / description: “About Us” statement providing an account of the Church’s
history.
Title: A Collection of Supplying Preaching (sic)

URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/jiangdao/
Notes / description: Sermons.
Title: Ironclad Proofs of Being Conquered by God’s Word

URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/tiezheng/
Notes / description: 137 testimonies from Eastern Lightning adherents who led
Christian churches and preached against Eastern Lightning
prior to their conversion. Chinese version entitled “各宗派首
领被神话语征服的铁证 [Ge zongpai shouling bei shen huayu
zhengfu de tiezheng]”
Short title: Questions and Answers

Title: Questions and Answers on the Testimony of the Kingdom
Gospel
URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/qa/
Notes / description: Rebuttal of 77 objections that Christians may have to Eastern
Lightning with reference to the Bible. Previously titled
Answering 100 Questions Related to the Bible. Chinese version:
“国度福音见证问答” [Guodu fuyin jianzheng wenda]

214 Appendix 2
Short title: SLO

Title: The Scroll that the Lamb Opened: From “The Word Has
Appeared in the Flesh”
URL (now defunct): https://www.hidden-advent.org/en/books/download.html
Notes: First printed in 2006. Hard copy bears P.O. Box address in
West Nyack, New York. Online pdf version was 1177 pages as
of September 2013. This greatly expanded on the 2006 edition;
translation also revised.
Title: Sing a New Song with the Lamb

URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/hymns-of-god-word/
Notes / description: Translation of lyrics for approximately 500 “Hymns of God’s
Word” (i.e., hymns with lyrics derived from Eastern Lightning
scripture) and 292 “Hymns of Experience” (i.e., hymns with lyr-
ics penned by adherents). Chinese version titled “跟随着羔羊
唱新歌” [Gensuizhe gaoyang chang xin’ge].
Title: Testimonies of Experiencing the Judgment of the Word of

Christ
URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/testimonies-of-
experiencing-the-judgment-and-chastisement-of-christs-word/
Notes / description: Testimonies from adherents who wavered in their faith, but
resolved to carry on after going through trials and reading
Eastern Lightning scripture or other texts. Chinese version
titled “经历基督话语审判刑罚的见证” [ Jingli Jidu huayu
shenpan xingfa de jianzheng]. Older edition titled Witnessing
Before the Judgment Seat of Christ: The Experience of Accepting
the Judgment and Punishment of the Word of God.
Title: Testimonies to the Holy Spirit’s Guiding People to Turn to the

Almighty God
URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/testimonies-to-the-
holy-spirit-guiding-people-to-turn-to-almighty-god/
Notes / description: 50 testimonies from adherents who have received dreams and
revelations, 50 who have been punished for rejecting God, and
20 who have witnessed miracles. Chinese version titled “圣灵
引导人归向全能神的见证” [Shengling yindao ren guixiang
quannengshen de jianzheng].
English Texts 215
Title: Typical Cases of Punishment for Resisting the Almighty God

URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/typical-cases-of-punishment-
for-resisting-almighty-god/
Notes / description: 219 cases of Christians who died as a result of accident or ill-
ness after rejecting Eastern Lightning. Available from Eastern
Lightning’s websites in early 2007. Chinese version titled
“基督教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型事例” [ Jidujiao
gezong gepai didang quannengshen shou chengfa de dianxing
shili]. For cover image and discussion, see chap. 3 of this book.
Short title: WAF

Title: The Word Appears in the Flesh
URL: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/the-word-appears-in-
the-flesh/
Notes / description: Eastern Lightning’s scripture, abridged from the Chinese
“话在肉身显现” [Hua zai roushen xianxian]. Available from
website from early 2006; translation revised in January 2008.
Omits sections of the Chinese version written between 1991–
1992; includes portions written 1992–1997.
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Periodicals Frequently Cited
Amity News Service (ANS) (http://www.amityfoundation.org/eng/content/amity-news-

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Bridge
China Study Journal (CSJ)
China Study Project Bulletin
Chinese Theological Review (CTR)
Nanjing Theological Review (NTR; 金陵神学志 Jinling shenxue zhi)
New York Times (NYT)
Religion in the PRC: Documentation
Tian Feng 天风 (TF)
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Index
2012 94–95 Church Rebuilt by the Holy Spirit 43

affiliation process 57, 149 Eastern Lightning 2, 94, 118, 149
Age of Grace (恩典时代) 73–74 Efficacious Spirit movement 44
Age of Law (律法时代) 73 Established King movement 32, 33, 123
Age of The Kingdom (国度时代) 73–75 Lord God’s Teachings 35, 130
Aleni, Giulio 101 New Testament Church 42
aliases 56, 56n153, 143, 159–60 ‘Shouters’ 31, 121
All Sphere Church (全范围教会) 44–45 Three Grades of Servant 47
CCP labeling of 136–37 Association of Disciples (门徒会) 35–39
demographic composition of 58 1996 study of 58
mainstream Christians’ discussion of adherents, number of 57n161
190–91 authorities’ labeling of 124
TSPM/CCC depiction of 167, 168–70, 175 Chinese Anti-Cult Association’s depiction
Amity Christian Art Center 103n16, 113 of 126–29, 136
Amity News Service 174–75, 182n68 demonstration involving 129, 138
anecdotes published by Eastern Lightning depiction of CCP 79, 138
and Chinese traditions 98, 199 handcopying of texts 54
and data on adherents 58–59 martyrdom 79
and Pentecostal Christianity 200 relationship to Chinese traditions 68, 111,
concerning the year 2000 91–94 138
of Christians’ conversion to Eastern teaching regarding food consumption
Lightning 149, 159–60 37, 55
of divine retribution 75, 80–84, 202 Aum Shinrikyo 123, 124, 169
of dreams and visions 75, 151–54, 202
of healing 75 Back to Jerusalem movement 145
of persecution 116 bao ping’an (保平安). See misfortune
of proselytizing 142–44, 148 management
usefulness in proselytizing 152 baptism 39, 50, 73
Anhui 32, 33, 34, 43, 59, 125 BBS 115, 157, 187–92, 194
anti-Christ 71, 158 Bible
anti-cult organizations 161. See also Chinese 1 Corinthians 46
Anti-Cult Association 2 Peter 91
apocalypse Acts 172
in Eastern Lightning 62, 82 and Chinese Protestants 13, 54, 63, 81,
in Eastern Lightning around 2012 94–97, 121, 175, 189
118 and Taiping rebellion 44n97, 88
in late imperial era 8, 119 Eastern Lightning’s interpretation and
in other Protestant-related new religious use of 73–74, 147. See also bolded
movements 54, 46–47, 167 references for specific books under
in religious groups around 1949 109–10 ‘Bible’
See also tribulations and millenarianism Ephesians 80
ark Exodus 79n71, 93, 114n62
and Eastern Lightning in 2012 95 Genesis 63, 68, 88, 91, 105
in the Association of Disciples 37 in new religious movements 18, 55, 46,
in miscellaneous new religious 134
movements since 1978 1–2, 95n136 Isaiah 39–40, 69
in True Jesus Church 95n136 John 46, 69n29, 158n78, 195n108
arrests Luke 33, 73
All Sphere Church/Born Again movement Matthew 15–16, 37, 46, 63–64, 70n33, 73,
45, 169 80n79, 145n23, 172, 195, 200–01
Association of Disciples 38, 128, 129 Revelation 1, 35n51, 40, 54, 62, 63, 67, 80,
Christians 28, 134–35 89–96, 99–117 passim 99, 115–17
244 Index
Bible (cont.) film on the Association of Disciples 38,

Romans 79, 90 126–29
‘Shouters’ version 29–30, 52, 54 film on the Three Grades of Servant 47
biji (筆記, jottings) 84 website 127n41, 138
Born Again movement (重生派). See All Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Sphere Church cooperation with Christians against new
‘boss’ Christians 13, 201 religious movements 194
Branch Davidians 122–23, 124, 169 demonization of 54. See also under
Buddhism dragon
“accounts of the strange” (志怪 zhiguai), heresiarch’s membership of 43
use of 153 religious policy 3–4, 25, 121, 134–35, 167
Buddhas and cosmic eras 76 response to Eastern Lightning 2, 115, 119
dragon 102–03 response to new religious movements
Eastern Lightning’s view of 66 27n14, 35, 42, 118–39
exorcism 102 See also Eastern Lightning—antagonism
Falun Gong, denunciation of 173 towards Chinese Communist Party and
Guanyin 85, 86 persecution and arrests
in heterodox sects during late imperial era Chongsheng pai (重生派). See All Sphere
8–9 Church
in late imperial era 6 Christianity 4n12. See also Protestantism
in medieval China 122 and Catholicism and global Christianity
in popular religion 6 Christmas 36, 44
in reform era 3 Chung, Jae Ho et al. 5n16, 132
in Taiping rebellion 11 Church of Almighty God (全能神教会). See
syncretism with Christianity 10 Eastern Lightning
Church Rebuilt by the Holy Spirit
Campbell, Colin 60–61 (圣灵重建教会) 42–43, 111
Cao Shengjie (曹圣洁) 177–78, 179 communion 30, 50
Castiglione, Giuseppe 103–04 Confucius and Confucianism
Catholicism basis for defining orthodoxy and
dragon 105 heterodoxy in imperial China 6, 8, 9,
dreams and visions 154 122
heterodox status and persecution of 11, contemporary nationalism 64
79, 119–20, 135 in contemporary new religious
indigenization 10–11 movemements 55
Marian devotion 85 in popular religion 6
official church/Patriotic Association 13 in Taiping rebellion 11
relationship to Eastern Lightning 4n12, conquering, work of 74, 78
18, 80–83, 152 crimes, allegations of 22, 120–21, 126. See
relationship with Protestants 105, 191n94 also rape and fraud and murder and
See also Jesuits kidnapping and arrests
Chang, Ruth 39 Criminal Law 124, 133
China Aid Association 135, 137 cultic milieu 60–61
China Christian Council 25. See also cults. See xiejiao and new religious
Protestant lianghui movements
China Gospel Fellowship 155 cultural Christians 131, 201
anti-heresy materials 157, 189, 191, 194 Cultural Revolution
Eastern Lightning’s kidnapping of allegation of Witness Lee’s violence during
leaders 155–60 165
labeled as ‘cult’ 134–35, 157 Eastern Lightning and loyalty dances 77
organizational structure 162 Eastern Lightning and rhetoric during
China Inland Mission 25 21, 162
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 133 Protestantism during 25, 26, 54, 56, 86,
Chinese Anti-Cult Association 127 193n102, 198
estimate of Eastern Lightning adherents suppression of religious activity 3, 8
139 culture fever 66
Index 245
dancing 40, 56, 57, 62, 77, 92 east

Daoism Chinese Protestantism 145
exorcism 102 Eastern Lightning interpretation of biblical
goddesses 84, 85 references to 63–64, 76, 200–01
immortals 91n118 in heterodox sects during imperial era
in popular religion 6 76
inner alchemy and dragon 103n14 in New Testament Church 40–41
late imperial era 6 in religious movements in East Asia 64
lightning 84 Eastern Lightning (东方闪电)
medieval China 122 adherents 19, 50, 57–59, 77, 97, 161–62.
reform era 3 See also under women
syncretism with Christianity 10 adherents, number of 57, 138
Taiping rebellion 11 Almighty God in 49, 57, 62, 72, 73, 76, 90.
demonic possession 71, 87. See also See also retribution
exorcism antagonism towards CCP 54, 65–68,
demonstrations 118, 119, 132, 199, 203. See also under
Association of Disciples 38, 138 dragon
Eastern Lightning’s identification with antagonism towards Protestants 54, 149,
1989, pro-Tibetan and Falun Gong 155–60, 203
203 CCP response to. See Chinese Communist
Eastern Lightning’s involvement in 118, Party: response to Eastern Lightning
125 development 51, 139, 201–05
Efficacious Spirit movement 44 eschatology 89–97
Falun Gong 2, 4, 203 evil cult status of 2, 15n68, 27n14, 51, 97
new religious movements generally 5 financial resources 52–53, 131–32, 202
New Testament Church 41 hymns 21, 50, 56, 92, 142, 152
‘Shouters’ 31 organization 49–50, 52, 56, 96, 132, 162,
Ding Guangxun (丁光训, K.H. Ting) 164–65, 196, 202
180–82, 193n102, 194 origins / early 1990s 1, 15, 47–48, 62–64,
disasters. See apocalypse 68–71
Document 19 3n9, 25n1, 121, 140n10 overseas Christians 66, 131, 158
dragon 99–117 overseas move and expansion 19, 22–23,
Chinese Communist Party represented as 52–53, 64, 72, 200–01
1, 109–10, 111–12, 116–17 popular opposition to 161
Chinese Protestants 107–13, 182 proselytizing 92, 139–62
Eastern Lightning 1, 99–100, 115–17, 132, relationship to Christianity 15, 18–19,
199 59–61, 99, 140, 196–200, 203. See also
exorcisms of people possessed by 101–02, Eastern Lightning: antagonism towards
108, 111 Protestants and under Bible
Jesuits 101–04 relationship to heterodox movements in
popular nationalism 113–15 late imperial China 9, 76, 85–86, 110
Protestant missionaries’ perception of relationship to ‘Shouters’ 48–49, 87, 91
104–05 relationship with Three Grades of Servant
Taiping rebellion 105–07 group 47
traditional representations 100, 102–03, religious practice/ritual 50, 56–57
199 sacred text 15–16, 20–21, 62, 72, 79, 81
dreams and visions studies of 4–5, 97, 133
Chinese Catholicism 154 ten commandments 48–49, 76–77,
Chinese Protestantism 13, 27, 154 198 159n79
Eastern Lightning 75, 152–54, 199–200, term used in this book 15–16
202 texts 20–22
official disapproval of 136 websites 19–20, 49, 159, 201–03, 204
other Protestant-related new religious See also anecdotes and Female Christ
movements 36, 45, 128, 168 Efficacious Spirit Teachings (灵灵教)
Taiping rebellion 87–88, 106–07 43–44, 55, 57, 98, 167, 171
246 Index
efficacy 7, 86, 97–98, 195, 196 freedom of religion. See Chinese Communist
Er liang liang (二两粮). See Association of Party: religious policy
Disciples Fujian 42, 52, 166
Established King (被立王) movement
32–34, 112, 123, 167, 170 gender. See women
Eternal Mother (无生老母) 8–9, 76, 85–86 geomancy 7, 26, 40, 173n34
etymology 63 global Christianity 10 197–200. See also
evangelism. See proselytizing indigenization
execution 33–34, 35, 47, 130, 204 globalization 199–200. See also
exorcism indigenization
Buddhist and Daoist 102 glocalization 200. See also indigenization
criticism of 121, 178 glossolalia 27, 39, 57, 200
Jesuit 101–02 goddesses 6, 84–87
Protestant 27, 108, 198 guanxi (关系) 150–51
in Eastern Lightning 74, 75 Guanyin (观音) 85–86
in new religious movements 1, 28, 36, 57,
111 Han Wenzao(韩文藻) 169, 175
in popular religion 7, 26 He Qi (何琦) 103n16, 113–14
healing
Falun Gong Chinese Protestantism 13, 27, 74–75, 87,
and CCP suppression of Protestant-related 198
new religious movements 118, 124–25, criticism of 26, 121, 167, 173–74
126, 129–31, 132–33 Eastern Lightning 74–75
and Protestants’ criticism of Protestant- new religious movements 1, 36, 55, 75,
related new religious movements 51, 87, 97
173–78, 183–84, 186 popular religion 7, 26
anecdotes 153 health care 60, 87, 93
antecedents 9 heaven 1, 2, 36, 40, 73, 80, 90–91, 96, 107, 128
CCP suppression and ‘evil cult’ status of Heilongjiang 15, 47, 48, 109
2, 4, 79, 118 126 hell 36, 90–91, 140, 182
Eastern Lightning compared to 2, 131–32, Henan
196, 203 “accounts of the strange” (志怪 zhiguai)
martyrdom/forbearance 79 153n59
morality 77 as backward 67
retribution 83–84, 153 Eastern Lightning in 1, 48, 58–59, 71, 152,
families 53, 120–21, 128, 142, 144, 150, 161 156–57
farming 56, 92, 127 miscellaneous new religious movements
Farrelly, Paul 40 in 2, 9, 44, 47, 167
Female Christ Protestantism in 9, 25–26, 56, 134, 167,
and Chinese religious traditions 84–89, 179–80
197, 205 ‘Shouters’ in 29, 31
authority of 49 heresy (异端 yiduan) 163–95 passim
authorship of scripture 20, 62 definition 17, 170
early 1990s 1, 48 Local Church / ‘Shouters’ labeled such
fulfilling biblical prophecy 63–64 31–32, 163–67
identity 68–72 See also xiejiao
ministry 73–75 heterodoxy
miracles 74 term used in this book 16–17
visions of 154 See also orthodoxy and xiejiao and dragon
feminist theology 89 Holy Spirit
fengshui. See geomancy Eastern Lightning’s 1, 19n76, 20, 69,
fertility 6, 86 199–200
Flinchbaugh, C. Hope 158 Eastern Lightning’s “man used by the”
food 36, 127–28 49, 77, 92n125
fraud 22, 35, 47, 121, 130, 178. See also crimes New Testament Church 41
Index 247
Hong, Elijah (洪以利亚, aka Hong Sanqi) in Efficacious Spirit Teachings 44

39–40 in new religious movements 18, 34,
Hong Kong 44–45, 51, 172
Eastern Lightning 20n79, 201, 202 in New Testament Church 39–41
New Testament Church 39, 53 in popular religion 89n110
‘Shouters’ 52 representation of, in various cultures 10
Hong Xiuquan (洪秀全) 44n97. See also ‘Shouters’’ teachings on 29–30
Taiping rebellion Taiping rebellion 11
house churches 3 TSPM/CCC statements concerning 181,
All Sphere Church as 45, 190–91 192–93
claim to orthodoxy 135, 193 Jesus Family (耶稣家庭) 12
discussion of heresy 187–190 Ji Sanbao (季三保) 36–38, 79, 128
discussion of orthodoxy 190–04 Jiang Duanyi (江端仪) 39–40
Eastern Lightning literature concerning Jiang Zemin 180
80, 149 Jing Jiuwei (靖玖玮) 175–76
nationalism 66 judgment. See retribution
number of Protestants 13 judgment day 53n149, 89–97
relationship with CCP 16–17, 134–36, 194
relationship with TSPM/CCC 14, 191–94 Kao, Chen-Yang 86, 198–99
reform era 26–27, 145, 149, 198 kidnapping 155–60
term used in this book 17–19 Kindopp, Jason 28n16, 31, 52, 182n68, 187n83
Three Grades of Servant claim to be 136 Koesel, Karrie 162
See also China Gospel Fellowship Kuangye zhaimen (旷野窄门). See
housework 59, 92, 161 Association of Disciples
Hsia, Po-Chia 153 Kupfer, Kristin 60
Hua Xuehe (华雪和) 43–44
Hubei 38, 124, 128, 156 Laamann, Lars Peter 11, 57n157
human rights 131, 173 Legislative Resolution Banning Cults 126,
Hunan 34–35, 43, 67, 68n23, 128 129, 173. See also Criminal Law
Li Changshou. See Witness Lee
iconoclasm 68, 106, 108, 109, 111, 113 Lian Xi 5n18, 57n161, 76n55
inculturation. See indigenization Liang Afa 106
indigenization 10n41 lightning 63–64, 81, 84–85, 152–53, 200–01.
and Eastern Lightning 14–15 See also Eastern Lightning
of Christianity globally 10 Lingling jiao (灵灵教). See Efficacious Spirit
of Christianity in China 10–14 Teachings
See also global Christianity, glocalization literacy 50, 58, 169
and syncretism Little Flock (小群派) 12, 26, 28, 29, 108
Inner Mongolia 58n163, 129, 138 relationship with TSPM/CCC 165, 166n12,
internet 193–94
anti-cult websites 127, 161 Liu Jiagu0 (刘家国) 34–35, 130
Chinese Christians’ use of 113, 135, Liu, Lydia 100n4
187–89, 190–93 Local Church (地方教会). See “Shouters”
Chinese use of 19–20, 115 Lord God’s Teachings (主神教) 34–35, 52,
Eastern Lightning’s use of. See Eastern 58, 130
Lightning—websites Lü Xiaomin (吕小敏) 21
New religious movements’ use of 41, 54,
111n48 Macao 104
Madsen, Richard 14n63, 14n64
Jesuits 10, 101–04, 119 ‘mainstream Protestants’ 187
Jesus Christ Malaysia 39
and Established King movement 33 Mao Zedong and Maoism
in All Sphere Church 168 and Eastern Lightning 62n2, 77, 93, 162,
in Association of Disciples movement 37 203
in Eastern Lightning 73–74. See also esteem for peasants 67
Female Christ in popular religion 8
248 Index
Mao Zedong and Maoism (cont.) National Public Radio 46

influence upon Protestants’ denunciations networks (personal). See guanxi (关系)
of heresy 124, 165–67, 171, 183 new religious movements
See also Cultural Revolution in imperial China 8–10
Mao Song’en (毛颂恩) 171–74, 177 term used in this book 17–18
martyrdom 78–79, 143–44. See also New Testament Church (新约教会) 39–43,
persecution 64
Marxism 97 New York Times 47, 51
May Fourth movement 66–67 Ni Guangdao (倪光道) 14n62, 112–13, 184
Mayan prophecy 2, 94–95, 118 Ni Tuosheng. See Little Flock
McDonald’s. See murder—Zhaoyuan 2014
medical treatment, rejection of 55, 84, 128, O’Brien, Kevin J. 150
130, 167. See also health care and healing official church. See TSPM and Protestant
mental illness 71, 84, 87–88, 128 lianghui
Mentu hui (门徒会). See Association of O’Leary, Stephen 96
Disciples oneirology 153–54
messiah. See Jesus Christ and Female Christ orthodoxy
millenarianism distinction between new religious
in Chinese Protestantism 12, 26, 27, movement and Christianity 18, 32,
109–10, 172–73 45, 134–36
in connection with the year 2000 2, 55, in contemporary China 10, 115, 195
91–97, 172–73 in imperial China 8, 119, 122
in connection with the year 2012, 118. See Protestants’ online discussion of 190–94
also Mayan prophecy and 2012 term used in this book 16
in Eastern Lightning 89–98, 203–04 TSPM/CCC formulation and promotion
in imperial era 8–9, 90, 120 of 179–83
in new religious movements since See also heterodoxy
twentieth century 54–55, 60, 86, 197 Ownby, David 9
miracles. See also healing and dreams and
visions and exorcism Palmer, David 60, 123, 136n70, 138n74,
Buddhism 102–03 177n51
Chinese Protestantism 13, 27, 198–99 patriotism. See nationalism
Eastern Lightning 74–75, 132, 200 peasants
new religious movements 28, 36, 55–56 founders of new religious movements
popular religion 7 32, 34, 35, 71, 87
wariness/criticism of 25, 109, 116, 127–28, members of new religious movements
154 55, 58, 87, 127–29
misfortune management 86, 128n42. See socioeconomic circumstances of 59–60,
also retribution 67, 87
missionaries Penny, Benjamin 9, 153, 177n51
denunciation of 119–20, 178, 195 Pentecostalism
Franciscan 85 and new religious movements 39, 43, 45,
Nestorian 10 51, 56–57
new religious movements 52, 131 global Pentecostalism 198–200
Protestant 11, 12, 13, 25–26, 52, 66, 88 in contemporary China 13, 27, 198–200
Protestant dismay at Chinese dragon in early twentieth century 12, 107, 154,
107, 110 198
See also Jesuits and Eastern Lightning— See also dreams and visions, glossolalia,
proselytizing and healings, miracles, Holy Spirit
Protestantism—proselytizing perfecting, work of 74, 78
Moses 42, 46, 76, 113–14 persecution
Mother of Lightning (电母) 84–85 of Christians during 1949–76 12, 56, 165
murder 47, 128, 170 of Christians in reform era 53, 116,
Zhaoyuan 2014 2, 185, 204 134–37
of Christians in seventeenth and
Naquin, Susan 103 eighteenth centuries 11, 119–20, 143n16
nationalism 13–14, 64–68, 115, 166 of Eastern Lightning 4, 99–100
Index 249
of Eastern Lightning, affecting response to Falun Gong 173–77

organization of 48, 70, 72, 78, 143, term used in this book 163
149–51, 201 theological construction 180–83, 191–93
Eastern Lightning accords positive value See also Three-Self Patriotic Movement
to 78, 90 and China Christian Council and
TSPM/CCC denial of Chinese Protestantism and Tian Feng
government’s religious 169–70, 175 Protestantism
See also dragon and martyrdom and during Cultural Revolution 56
xiejiao and arrests during early twentieth century 12
popular religion 5–7 faith healing 74–75. See also under
aetiology 83 healing
and Eastern Lightning 66, 131, 154, 199. Henan 25–26
See also popular religion—lightning history and indigenization of, in
and judgment China 11–14
criticized by Christians 173n34 ‘mainstream Protestants’ 187
lightning and judgment 84–85, 153 new religious movements’ relationship to
reform era 8, 26 14–15, 60–61
relationship to heterodox sects 8, 9, 98 new religious movements, responses to
spirit-writing 89 163–95 passim
syncretism with Christianity 11, 14, proselytizing 140, 144–145
57n157, 89n110, 197, 199 reform era 12–13, 25–27, 69, 89, 198–99
See also spirit possession statistics 12–13
poverty 65, 70–71, 93, 97, 127, 132 term used in this book 18–19
Practical God (实际神) 16, 62, 98. See also See also Protestant lianghui and house
Eastern Lightning churches and Bible and Pentecostalism
pragmatism. See efficacy protests. See demonstrations
propaganda 21, 57, 126–29, 171–73, 187
prophecy, failed 89–97 qigong 9, 26, 60, 126, 131
proselytizing. See also missionaries and under Qinghai 94, 202
Protestantism and Eastern Lightning Quan fanwei jiaohui (全范围教会). See All
in new religious movements 53–54 Sphere Church
late imperial sects 8–9 Quannengshen (全能神) 16. See also
official condemnation of 136 Eastern Lightning
Protestant lianghui (TSPM/CCC)
as ‘official’ church 17 rape 33, 35, 121, 130
attitude towards Chinese dragon 108–09, Real God (实际神) 16, 62. See also Eastern
112–14 Lightning
congregations 17 rebellion 8–9, 120, 138n74, 162, 203. See also
demonized by new religious movements Taiping rebellion and demonstrations
54 recruitment 140n8. See also proselytizing
depiction of All Sphere Church 168–70 ‘religion’ (宗教 zongjiao) 5, 126, 133–34, 173,
depiction of house churches 14 177, 196
depiction of new religious movements religion in China 1–15, 25–27. See also
163–87 Chinese Communist Party—religious
division of responsibilities between the policy and names of various religions
two organizations 25n2 Religious Affairs Bureau. See State
Eastern Lightning announces judgment Administration of Religious Affairs
upon 80–81 retribution 7, 80–84, 110–11, 153, 156, 199
in Henan 26, 179–80 Revelation. See under Bible
indigenization of Protestantism 13–14 Richard, Timothy 66
number and training of clergy 179–80 River Elegy 66
number of Protestants 12–13 Robertson, Roland 200
Protestants’ differing views of 191–94
reemergence in late 1970s 24 Sanshu jiao (三赎教). See Association of
relationship with CCP 185–87, 194 Disciples
relationship with ‘Shouters’, 163–67 secrecy 69–70, 145–51. See also aliases
250 Index
sects. See xiejiao and new religious dispensations 76

movements millenarianism around year 2000, 55n148
Shaanxi 36, 38, 145, 156 number of adherents 57n161
shamanism. See spirit possession Three-Self Patriotic Movement 13, 15, 25n2.
Shiji shen (实际神) 16, 62. See also Eastern See also Protestant lianghui (TSPM/CCC)
Lightning Tian Feng (天风) 1, 27, 108–09, 112–13,
‘Shouters’ (呼喊派) 28–32 165–85 passim
Christians’ critiques of 163–67, 185, 193 Tibet 3, 94–95, 203
overseas links 52 Time magazine 23n87, 139, 146
relationship to other new religious Ting, K.H. See Ding Guangxun (丁光训)
movements 32–33, 34 tithing 61, 127, 136, 202
See also Eastern Lightning—relationship tongues. See glossolalia
to ‘Shouters’ tribulations
Shouwang Church (守望教会) 4, 137 Eastern Lightning 78, 80, 89–90
Sigley, Gary 67 new religious movements generally 54
Singapore 39, 156 New Testament Church 40
six-thousand-year management plan 91 Protestantism in 1950s 109
Songs of Canaan (迦南诗歌) 21 True Jesus Church (真耶稣教会) 12
sources 19–23 exorcism 108
spirit possession 7, 26, 57n157, 88–89 Henan 26
Standaert, Nicolas 102 influence upon new religious movements
State Administration of Religious Affairs 36, 43, 64, 86, 95n136
(SARA) 15n73, 31, 185 TSPM. See Three-Self Patriotic Movement and
superstition Protestant lianghui
popular religion labeled 7–8, 26 Tsuo, Moses. See Zuo Kun
Protestant condemnation of 27, 112n55,
168 Unification Church 27n14, 64
reform-era efforts against 67, 124, 126, 191 United Front Work Department 17n73, 185
suzhi (素质; [human] quality) 65, 67, 69, United States of America. See Eastern
147, 179 Lightning—overseas move and expansion
syncretism 11, 12, 55, 85–86, 197–200. See also and ‘Shouters’—overseas links
indigenization and under popular religion
Vala, Carsten T. 150
Taiping rebellion 11–12 Virgin Mary. See Catholicism—Marian
and Association of Disciples 138 devotion
and dragon 105–07 visions. See dreams and visions
and Eastern Lightning 87–88
Heavenly Mother 88 Watchman Nee. See Little Flock
regarded as ‘heterodox teaching’ 120 website. See internet and Eastern
See also Hong Xiuquan Lightning—websites
Taiwan White Lotus Teachings (白蓮教) 9, 11, 86,
Church Rebuilt by the Holy Spirit 42–43, 136, 138n74
111 Witness Lee (李常受 Li Changshou) 28–32,
dragon 111, 112n55 52, 54, 76n55, 91, 108, 165. See also
Eastern Lightning in 201 ‘Shouters’
Little Flock 28, 108 women
New Testament Church 39–42, 46 [human] quality, or suzhi 67
Taoism. See Daoism in 1724 proscription of Christianity 120
ter Haar, Barend 9, 136 in Eastern Lightning 59, 68–69, 73n44,
testimonies. See anecdotes 141, 161
theological construction 180–83, 191–93 in new religious movements 52, 58
Three Grades of Servants (三班仆人) in other religions 130n14, 160
45–47 Word Appeared in the Flesh. See Eastern
Chinese Anti-Cult Association depiction Lightning—sacred text
of 134 World Elijah Evangelical Mission 27n14,
claim to be orthodox 136 125n37
Index 251
Wu Dongsheng (吴东升) 5n15, 22n84, 58, TSPM/CCC leadership’s use of term and

97 depiction of 169–78, 183–86
Wu Yangming (吴杨明) 32–34, 123 use of term by other Christians 157, 158,
Wu Yaozong (吴耀宗, Y.T. Wu) 193n102, 195 188, 189
Wusheng laomu. See Eternal Mother Xinjiang 3, 128, 142, 145
Xu Wenku (徐文库) 46–47, 134
xiejiao (邪教; variously translated as Xu Yongze ( 徐永泽 Peter Xu) 45, 169
‘heterodox teaching’ and ‘cult’)
authorities’ depiction of 43, 48, 126–29 Yang, C.K. 6, 77
Christianity labeled as 11, 119, 134–36, Yang Xiangbin (杨向彬) 71, 72, 87, 201
157 Yellers. See ‘Shouters’
distinction from ‘religion’ 4, 129, 137, yiduan (异端). See heresy
176–77 Yiguandao (一贯道) 136n70
Eastern Lightning labeled as 2, 15n68, Yunnan 38–39
16, 97
in imperial China 8–10, 89, 120 Zhang Lidong (张立冬) et al. 204
legal basis for suppression of 124, 126, Zhao Weishan (赵维山) 48–49, 70, 71, 72,
134 92n125, 201
origins of term 122, 200 Zhao Zhi’en (赵志恩) 112, 168n20
other Protestant-related movements Zhaoyuan. See under murder
labeled as 4, 27, 120 Zhejiang 31, 109n37, 153n59, 164
prohibited from using internet 20 zhiguai (志怪) 153–54
revival of term from mid-1990s 122–24, Zhu shen jiao. See Lord God’s Teachings
200 Zion 39–42, 62
studies of 4–5, 22, 97, 133 Zuo Kun (左坤 aka Moses Tsuo) 42–43,
term used in this book 16–17 111n48

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(Religion in Chinese Societies) Emily Dunn - Lightning From The East - Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China-Brill Academic Pub (2015)

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Lightning from the East

Religion in Chinese Societies

Kenneth Dean (McGill University)

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/rics

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dunn, Emily (Associate)

Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

1 Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) and Religion in China 1

2 Protestant-related New Religious Movements in Contemporary

3 The Teachings of Eastern Lightning 62

4 The Heritage of Eastern Lightning’s Teachings: A Case Study 99

5 The Chinese Government’s Response to Protestant-related

6 The Art of Persuasion: Eastern Lightning’s Recruitment Strategies 139

7 Chinese Protestant Depictions of Heresy 163

8 Conclusion: Eastern Lightning in Local and Global Perspective 196

Appendix 1: Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning’s

Parkville, National Library of China, Shanghai Library, Chinese University of

1 “Behold! God’s Chosen Prophet in the East!” New Testament Church

ANS Amity News Service

For abbreviated book and periodical titles, refer to bibliography and

Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) and

In May 1992, the magazine of the nationally-registered Protestant associa-

1 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us], 2.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_002

3 Wei Kun, “ ‘Noah’s Ark’ in Luzhai,” Bridge 47 (1991): 14–15.

These spectacular incidents reignited discussions of new religious movements

In 2011, the Shouwang (守望) unregistered Protestant church frustrated

Chinese ‘popular religion’ (民间宗教 minjian zongjiao) is a vexed category,

They coexist with practices such as geomancy (famously, 风水 fengshui), cal-

Heterodox Religions and the Chinese State

China has a rich history of rulers imposing their constructions of ‘orthodoxy’

intensified.32 In 1774, Wang Lun proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of

Thus, the significance of today’s Protestant-related new religious movements

Eastern Lightning and the Making of Chinese Christianity

this rebellion also surely contributes to official apprehension towards quasi-

Protestants,56 while Western commentators double those figures based on

Today the TSPM maintains that Protestantism was “unfortunately linked

Eastern Lightning is an extension of this phenomenon. Its use of indigenous

Notes on Key Terms

‘Official’ and ‘House’ Churches

‘Protestants’ and ‘Protestant-related New Religious Movements’

Accessing Eastern Lightning

75 Mayfair Mei-hui Yang, “Introduction,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity

78 Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (全国人民代表大会常务委

associations, theological journals and online discussion forums narrate the

Lightning adherents in North America.86 Archived versions of the group’s web-

Chapter 2 of this book chronicles the development of Protestant-related new

In a case study of the development of Eastern Lightning’s doctrine,

Protestant-related New Religious Movements in

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_003

t­wentieth century, an influx of other missions descended upon Henan, such

10 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 215–16.

the movements themselves to support my discussion. This is possible for the

‘Shouters’ (呼喊派 Huhan pai, also translated as ‘Yellers’)

In today’s Christianity we see neither the enjoyment of the all-inclusive

Established King (被立王 Beili wang)

41 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66.

The Lord God’s Teachings (主神教 Zhu shen jiao)

The Association of Disciples (门徒会 Mentu hui)

Xunyang County in Shaanxi Province by Ji Sanbao 季三保, who is said to have

1989, he held a meeting of followers and declared himself to be a prophet and

New Testament Church (新约教会 Xin yue jiaohui)

1 “Behold! God’s Chosen Prophet in the East!” New Testament Church

1 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us], 2.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_002

3 Wei Kun, “ ‘Noah’s Ark’ in Luzhai,” Bridge 47 (1991): 14–15.

75 Mayfair Mei-hui Yang, “Introduction,” in Chinese Religiosities: Afflications of Modernity

78 Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (全国人民代表大会常务委

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_003

twentieth century, an influx of other missions descended upon Henan, such

10 Lian Xi, Redeemed by Fire, 215–16.

41 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66.

94 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 66.

101 “Notice on Various Issues,” 27.

113 “Notice on Various Issues,” 33.

120 Church of Almighty God, “Guanyu women 关于我们” [About us], 2.

127 “Guanyu jiaohui geji dialing gongren de zhize guiding 关于教会各级带领工人的职责

140 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密, 127, 129.

147 Classical studies of millenarianism include Yonina Talmon, “Millenarian Movements,”

156 Eastern Lightning is an exception to this, and discourages speaking in tongues..

172 Ibid., 14.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��5 | doi ��.��63/9789004297258_004

23 Jing Xing (儆醒), “Yiduan ‘mentuhui’ de neimu 异端《门徒会》的内幕” [Inside

70 Romans 5:3–4.

75 Revelation 20–21.

80 Ephesians 6:10–17.

117 This was determined by conducting a Google search of chinese.hidden-advent.org/

141 Wu Dongsheng (吴东升), Xiejiao de mimi 邪教的秘密.