True Jesus Church

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
True Jesus Church, Fuzhou , China .

The Wahre Jesus-Kirche or Wahre Jesus Gemeinde (proper spelling of the German branch) is a Chinese Christian church that was founded in Beijing in 1917 . It is one of the indigenous or native denominations in the People's Republic of China . Belief in the exclusive divinity of Jesus belongs to the doctrine of this church, that is, the doctrine of the Trinity is rejected. The fellowship was also one of three native Chinese house churches that existed in China before the Communists took over in 1949. The goal of the church is to preach the gospel to all nations before Jesus returns .

distribution

The Church is traditionally well represented on the southeast coast of China - in the provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian . It also has a strong presence in Taiwan and has been the second largest Christian religious community for over 70 years. Today it claims to have between 1.5 and 2.5 million members in 48 different countries on six continents.

to teach

The church takes its teaching structure from the Pentecostal movement of the early 20th century. As an indigenous denomination, the church is characterized by the fact that it broke with the European reading and tradition of Christianity and that it had no institutional ties to the mission organizations.

The Church formulates ten key phrases that are intended to summarize her faith. These formulate the confession to the Holy Spirit , to Jesus Christ , to the Bible , to salvation through faith and grace and to the second coming of Christ . Furthermore, the core sentences include the sacraments of baptism , which only becomes valid through complete immersion , the washing of the feet and communion . Through the Sabbath article, the church distances itself from the Christian tradition of celebrating Sunday. Another key sentence affirms the True Jesus Church's claim to be the restored Church of the apostolic time.

Worship and rite

  • Church worship is described as highly emotional. The aim of the process is to make believers open and receptive to religious feelings and to enable a feeling of catharsis as self-purification.
  • Speaking in tongues plays an important role and has a fixed place in the service and is introduced by singing and short prayers.
  • Christmas is not celebrated because December 25th was originally associated with a pagan ritual to celebrate the winter solstice . The celebration of Sol invictus was one of the highest holidays of the pagan Roman Empire . With the establishment of the Imperium Romanum Christianum under Constantine the Great in the 4th century, Sol invictus was rededicated for today's Christmas festival. The True Jesus Church therefore rejects the celebration of Christmas as pagan and justifies this with the fact that the exact day of the birth of Christ is unknown. Furthermore, Jesus never asked his disciples to celebrate his birthday.
  • The Good Friday is also not celebrated, since he is of pagan origin.
  • Furthermore, the True Jesus Church does not celebrate its services on Sunday, but on Saturday or Sabbath .

organization

The current elected chairman of the International Assembly of the True Jesus Church is minister Yung-Ji Lin.

In Germany there are municipalities in Hamburg , Mönchengladbach and Mannheim .

history

The three founders of the True Jesus Church were Ling-Sheng Zhang, Paul Wei, and Barnabas Zhang. They had their first contact with Christianity in the early 20th century through Presbyterian missionaries, from whom they received baptism. Later they came into contact with missionaries of the Pentecostal Movement, founded in Los Angeles in 1907 and later organized in the Assemblies of God . In 1917 they founded their own church in Beijing and in the following years they carried out successful missionary work along the Chinese coast and, since 1926, also on Taiwan . They often courted Presbyterian missions. They developed a "Chinese theology" that deliberately broke with Western Christian traditions. Ling-Sheng Zhang believed that the Western communities held doctrinal views that were wrong and that a restoration of the original Church of Jesus was necessary. In 1929 there was a break between him and Barnabas Zhang - Paul Wei had died in the meantime. Barnabas Zhang founded his own church in Hong Kong and was excommunicated. Ling-Sheng's commitment, however, was unbroken. During World War II , the Japanese government in Taiwan tried to control Christians and installed Japanese leaders in the Church. The church was called the Japanese True Jesus Church at that time .

In 1949, the True Jesus Church had 120,000 members and 700 congregations across China. Its rapid dissemination was facilitated by its preaching, which was free of foreign missionaries and influences and was particularly effective in war and occupied areas of China from the 1920s to 1940s.

In communist China, the government tried to subject all religious communities to state control. This found expression in the so-called three-self movement . Only a few congregations of the true Jesus Church submitted to state control. The vast majority remained independent .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allan Anderson: In All Directions: The Azusa Street Revival and the Global Pentecostal Movement ; in: Inspiration: Theological Articles for Christian Leaders ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; No. 5 Fall 2007, pp. 30–39, here p. 37 (pdf; 1.91 MB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ag.org
  2. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 68 .
  3. ^ Murray A. Rubinstein: The Protestant Community on Modern Taiwan. Mission, Seminary, and Church . ME Sharpe, Armonk, NY 1991, ISBN 0-87332-658-X , pp. 6 .
  4. ↑ True Jesus Church: about our church: Facts and History ( Memento of the original dated February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; last accessed on October 15, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tjc.org
  5. ↑ Kristin Kupfer : "Secret Societies" in the People's Republic of China: Spiritual-Religious Movements since 1978 - Origin, Development and Interaction with the State ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; P. 3 (rtf; 24 kB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.asienkunde.de
  6. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 120 .
  7. ↑ True Jesus Church: about our church: Statement of Faith ( Memento of the original dated June 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; last accessed on October 15, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tjc.org
  8. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 154 .
  9. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 153 .
  10. ^ True Jesus Church: about our church: Is Christmas Biblical? ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Last accessed on October 15, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tjc.org
  11. ^ Daniel H. Bays: Chinese Protestant Christianity Today . In: Religion in China Today (= The China Quarterly. Special Issues. New Series Vol. 3). Cambridge 2003. p. 189. ( Online ; PDF file; 100 kB)
  12. ↑ True Jesus Church: about our church: Facts and History ( Memento of the original dated February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; last accessed on October 15, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tjc.org
  13. ^ Murray A. Rubinstein: The Protestant Community on Modern Taiwan. Mission, Seminary, and Church . ME Sharpe, Armonk, NY 1991, ISBN 0-87332-658-X , pp. 6 .
  14. ^ Murray A. Rubinstein: The Protestant Community on Modern Taiwan. Mission, Seminary, and Church . ME Sharpe, Armonk, NY 1991, ISBN 0-87332-658-X , pp. 27 .
  15. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 120-121 .
  16. ^ Alan Hunter, Kim-Kwong Chan: Protestantism in contemporary China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 1993, ISBN 0-521-44161-7 , pp. 153 .