The Born Again Movement (重生派 Chongshengpai) B.A.M., or Word of Life Church, or All Ranges Church (全范围教会 Quanfanwei jiaohui, "Total Scope Church") of China is a Christian religious movement founded by Peter Xu Yongze in 1968 during the Chinese

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 goa ...

, when all churches were officially closed by the Communist government under

Chairman Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

. The B.A.M. is a

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

-based

house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...

network whose membership may run into the millions. In 1998 there were an estimated 3 million followers independent of the official

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 ...

churches in China. The magazine '' Christianity Today'' reports that “Spinoffs from BAM, one of the fastest-growing religious groups in China, have an estimated 20 million followers, nearly twice the size of the registered church, which was re-established in 1979”. Xu had taught that weeping was an essential evidence of repentance, though in recent years this has had less emphasis in the movement. Concern over this emphasis came not only from the official

church, but also from some

Chinese house church In China, house churches or family churches (), are Protestant assemblies in the People's Republic of China that operate independently from the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC). They represent ...

leaders. Xu was arrested by the Chinese government in 1998 on charges of “being a leader of a banned religious cult, disrupting public order, and spreading religious heresy about the imminent end of the world”. The official Chinese news agency compared Xu to

David Koresh David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Se ...

. Both registered-church and

leaders, including

Samuel Lamb Samuel Lamb or Lin Xiangao (; October 4, 1924 – August 3, 2013) was a Protestant pastor in Guangzhou, China. He was a leader in the Chinese house church movement and known for his resistance against the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Mov ...

and

Allen Yuan Allen Yuan Xiangchen (; 1914 – August 16, 2005) was a Chinese Protestant Christian pastor. He was acclaimed by Open Doors as "a towering figure in China's house church movement" and known for his resistance against participation in the sta ...

, have criticized Xu and his movement for unorthodox teaching, such as the expectation that new converts weep for three days to bring about forgiveness for their sins. He was set free in 2000.

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* . * claims 16 million in Born Again Movement of China in 2008. {{Chinese Independent Churches Christianity in China Christian organizations established in 1968 Persecution of Christians Pentecostal denominations Christian denominations established in the 20th century

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