Wang Weifan (; 1927–2015) was an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian leader of the state-sanctioned

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church of mainland China, the

Three-Self Patriotic Movement The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church (). The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriot ...

. He was well-loved as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer.

Biography

Wang Weifan was born into a non-Christian home in Taizhou,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

province. He became a Christian in 1947 while studying Chinese literature at

National Central University National Central University (NCU, ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Kwet-li̍p Chung-yong Thài-ho̍k'', Wade–Giles: ''Kuo2 Li4 Chung Yang Ta4 Hsüeh2'' or ''中大'', ''Chung-ta'') is a public research university with long-standing traditions based in Taiwa ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

and became active in

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. InterVarsity is a charter member of the Internat ...

. Wang would go onto further studies in China Theological Seminary in Hangzhou (), which would later merge with

Nanjing Union Theological Seminary The Nanjing Union Theological Seminary () is the flagship theological seminary of Protestant Christianity in China today. It is managed by the China Christian Council. Prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China, the institution had ...

() in 1952. He would graduate from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary three years later in 1955. Wang would be criticized during the

Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...

in 1958 and, later, during the Cultural Revolution. After public religious practice was allowed again in China following the end of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, Wang taught

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

and was the head of the publications department. Wang Weifan died on September 15, 2015, in Nanjing.

Theology

Wang Weifan's theological thinking brought together Chinese classical thought and traditional western theology. Borrowing from the ''

Yijing The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou ...

'', he was known for his idea of the "ever-generating God" (): Like other leaders of the

such as K. H. Ting, Wang also spoke of a

cosmic Christ The cosmic Christ is a view of Christology which emphasises the extent of Jesus Christ's concern for the cosmos. The biblical bases for a cosmic Christology is often found in Colossians, Ephesians, and the prologue to the gospel of John. Early c ...

ology, with a strong emphasis on the

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

, and held to a Christocentric mysticism. Due to his

theology, Wang Weifan would in the 1990s be pushed into retirement during the "theological reconstruction movement" by his friend and colleague K. H. Ting.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Weifan 1927 births 2015 deaths Chinese evangelicals Chinese Christian theologians Chinese Protestant ministers and clergy Christian writers Chinese spiritual writers Three-Self Patriotic Movement