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Global ReOrient: Chinese Pentecostal/Charismatic Movements in the Global East Symposium

Sponsored by the Center on Religion and Chinese Society
Purdue University - October 30-31, 2013

 A Report from David Reed, Professor Emeritus
Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

Purdue University's Professor Fenggang Yang and its Center on Religion and Chinese Society sponsored a first: a symposium on Pentecostal-charismatic movements in China and the Global East. Sixteen papers introduced participants to a diversity and complexity that has already earned global Pentecostalism its reputation for cultural adaptability.

The presenters were a mix of seasoned and emerging doctoral and post-doctoral scholars. Their disciplines included anthropology, history, intercultural studies, political science, and sociology. Papers, soon to be published, ranged from broad historical and social themes to case studies. While most attention was devoted to China, presenters examined churches, ministries or movements in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, in some instances providing examples of partnership with the church in China.

This event not only informed and enlightened but also presented challenges for future scholarly expeditions. I left the conference mulling over the following four questions, which at least for me deserve some ongoing reflection.

First, what is a Pentecostal? The question was raised along both historiographical and typological axes. Pentecostal identity is global from its beginning, but historians debate the question of single-origin (Azusa Street) or multiple-origins. The choice may well impact traditional American historiographical hegemony and the spiritual significance of tongues in Pentecostal experience. Theological taxonomies dictate in part whether "orthodox" Pentecostals will greet new faces as distant cousins to be embraced or strangers to be evangelized.

Second, how are we to assess the role of culture? Presenters unearthed early encounters with Pentecostal missionaries (mostly people and periodicals) and traced current transnational movements. Occasionally beliefs and practices appear on native soil that in their strangeness is assessed as deviant at best and demonic at worst. We were reminded that global flows produce hybrids in which the receptor culture is not a passive container but an active agent in shaping its own identity.  At least four papers directly focused on the Chinese indigenous True Jesus Church, a group whose major beliefs and practices were borrowed from early missionaries but re-interpreted for an exclusive church that claims to be the restored Apostolic church raised up in these Last Days to take the truth from the east to the west. Ironically, one presenter believes the TJC is not Christian at all. The effect of hybridity is certain to produce ongoing controversy, at least within the Christian community, over the boundary between enculturation and syncretism.

Third, why do numbers count? A recent survey reported by Professor Yang concluded that there are at least 65 million Christians in China. Within that number, western demographers disagree on what constitutes "Pentecostal-type" religion. One estimate claims that 80 million Chinese Christians are to be included. How do we count those who affirm tongues and healing but do not practice it, as one presenter reported to be the case with a particular house church leader? What are the implications--and optics--of the numbers reports by a western Pentecostal denomination which is structured with global affiliates, knowing that most of its growth is accomplished by nationals who are carrying out the work of evangelizing? How are we to interpret the report that Pentecostal churches in Asia that have the closest ties to the west are growing more slowly than those that are exclusively indigenous?

 Fourth, how do Chinese house churches view their government? One research project discovered a vibrant spirit of patriotism for their nation and qualified public support for their government. This insight exposed for me a danger that lurks behind western rhetoric against China's Communist government. It is tempting for well-meaning western Christians who fiercely oppose China's Communist government to project a similar attitude upon Chinese Christians. This kind of cultural bias distorts the reality and misrepresents the loyalties and motives of Chinese believers.

 Finally, the study of global Pentecostalism in our time, with its multifarious permutations, opens up a rich variety of possibilities for future research. This work will undoubtedly challenge accepted orthodoxies of the West. But in the end it is a vocation that will serve society's need to better understand varieties of religious presence and hopefully dull the power of fear, prejudice and persecution of the other.

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