Norman Howard Cliff (1925–2007) was a British

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

author who wrote about Christianity and the history of

Protestant missions in China In the early 19th century, Western colonial expansion occurred at the same time as an evangelical revival – the Second Great Awakening – throughout the English-speaking world, leading to more overseas missionary activity. The nineteenth centu ...

Biography

Cliff was born in 1925 in

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...

(formerly, Chefoo) to Howard and Mary Cliff, both pharmacists who were working as missionaries with the

China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...

(CIM). As part of the Chefoo School, a boarding school of the CIM, Cliff was interned by the Japanese at the

Weixian Internment Camp The Weixian Internment Camp (), better known historically as the Weihsien Internment Camp, was a Japanese-run internment camp called a ”Civilian Assembly Center” in the former (), located near the city of Weifang, Shandong, China. The comp ...

from 1943 until 1945, when the camp was freed by American

paratroopers A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

. Cliff later went on to pursue a B.A. from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

and a B.Com. from

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest ...

. He worked as a minister and an accountant for the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

in South Africa, before returning to Britain due to poor health. Back in the UK, Cliff earned an MPhil at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

in 1983, writing a thesis on the theology of

Watchman Nee Watchman Nee, Ni Tuosheng, or Nee T'o-sheng (; November 4, 1903 – May 30, 1972), was a Chinese church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the 20th century. His evangelism was influenced by the Plymouth Brethren. In 1922, ...

, and a PhD at Buckingham University in 1995, writing a thesis on the history of Protestant missions in Shandong Province.

Works authored

* ''Prisoners of the Samurai: Japanese Civilian Camps, 1941-1945'' * ''Fierce the Conflict'' (2001) * ''White Cliffs of Hangzhou'' * ''Life and Theology of Watchman Nee : Including a Study of the Little Flock'' * ''A Heart for China: The Gripping Story of Benjamin Broomhall'' * ''A Flame of Sacred Love'' * ''Courtyard of the Happy Way''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cliff, Norman Howard English Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in China Protestant writers 1925 births 2007 deaths World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan Alumni of the Open University Internees at the Weixian Internment Camp British World War II prisoners of war British expatriates in China 20th-century British historians