EMQ » July–September 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 4
Shandong: Inside the Greatest Christian Revival in History
By Paul Hattaway
The China Chronicles Series
William Carey Publishing, 2022
219 pages
US$16.99
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Reviewed by Gene Wilson, church planting catalyst with ReachGlobal and author of Emerging Gospel Movements – The Role of Catalysts (Wipf and Stock, 2021).
Author Paul Hattaway, a New Zealander who has served in China for several decades and co-founded a nonprofit (called Asia Harvest) with his wife, unravels a breathtaking narrative of God’s work in the province of Shandong, in northeast China, from the mid-1800s to 2021. Hattaway traces the stages of the gospel movement’s progress from the start of the first indigenous church in 1860 to a disciple-making movement of about five million believers. Each chapter describes a decade of expansion despite fierce opposition. Hattaway lays out the main characteristics of the movement in their historical context and profiles the lives of courageous missionaries and Chinese leaders of each decade.
The China Chronicles Series has been written to record God’s mighty acts in China throughout 160 years. The movement called “the greatest revival in history” encompasses several successive revivals interrupted by periods of backsliding and waves of persecution in Shandong. The Holy Spirit used lay preachers, evangelistic bands, healings, and other gracious interventions to grow his Church.
I was inspired by the stories of brave missionary pioneers and unyielding martyrs who accepted torture and death rather than deny their Savior. They endured persecution by local mobs in the church’s infancy, by soldiers during the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Cultural Revolution (1965), and by government officials during the Japanese occupation (1910) and under communism. After a period of détente at the beginning of this century, the Church is again facing new rigid restrictions. Most missionaries have left the country and training occurs in secret. Yet the number of Evangelical Christians in Shandong grew from zero in 1860 to about five million in 2020.
Anyone interested in an accurate account and a balanced perspective of the Church in China will enjoy reading this. The narrative is interspersed with inspirational biographical vignettes of individuals and events which illustrate God’s amazing grace and irresistible purpose – from the sacrifices of pioneer missionaries like Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth and Lottie Moon, to the courageous preaching of evangelists Watchman Nee and John Sung. Hattaway does not gloss over the excesses and failings of movement leaders like Jing Dianying, founder of the Jesus Family. Hattaway concludes with a detailed statistical analysis estimating the growth of the Church in every city and county and province of China. He points to contributing factors without abandoning the narrative style. Whether Shandong has truly experienced the greatest Christian revival or not is beyond the purview of this book.
For Further Reading
Darkest Before the Dawn: A Brief History of the Rise of Christianity in China, Studies in Chinese Christianity Series, by Richard C. Cook(Pickwick, 2021).
Jonathan Goforth, Men of Faith Series,by Rosalind Goforth (Bethany House, 1986).
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 4. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
