PENTECOSTAL CHRISTIANITY AND CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS IN CHINA: THE CASE OF THE TRUE JESUS CHURCH MOVEMENT

Abstract

In-depth study of the True Jesus Church, a completely indigenous Pentecostal Chinese religious group that has experienced dramatic growth in recent years, reveals the complex and diverse reality of variation in church-state relationships in China. The True Jesus Church is distinct in that, in many regions, it is not a part of the overall “Three-Self Patriotic Movement” structure, nor does it belong to the “house church” movement. In China today, a society where an overarching rule-of-law system is missing, fates of religious congregations often lie in the hands of local bureaucrats. The quality of relationships—the “Guanxi”— with the local government often determines the degree of freedom for religious practices.