Wang Weifan

Wang Weifan (simplified Chinese: 汪维藩; traditional Chinese: 汪維藩; pinyin: Wāng Wéifān; 1927-2015) was an evangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctioned Protestant church of mainland China, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. He graduated from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in 1955 and, after public religious practice was allowed again in China following the end of the Cultural Revolution, he taught New Testament at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and was the head of the publications department. Wang was well-loved for as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer.^[1][2]

Wang Weifan's theological thinking brought together Chinese classical thought and traditional western theology. Borrowing from the Yijing, he was known for his idea of the "ever-generating God" (Chinese: 生生神; pinyin: shēng shēng shén):

The central theological idea focuses on the word sheng (“life”). God is understood as a God of sheng sheng, “a Life-Birthing God” – the first sheng is used as a verb (“to give birth to”) and the second as a noun (“life”). The unceasing generating God is a living and dynamic God who does not only give birth to life, but also sustains and protects it.^[3]

Like other TSPM leaders such as K. H. Ting, Wang also spoke of a cosmic Christology, with a strong emphasis on the Incarnation, and held to a Christocentric mysticism.^[4][1]

Though Wang Weifan would be a key Christian leader in the Protestant church, he would be attacked by his friend and colleague K. H. Ting during the 1990s "theological reconstruction movement."^[5]

Works

• Wang, Weifan (1993). Lilies of the Field: Meditations for the Church Year. Nashville, TN: The Upper Room.
• Wang, Weifan (1997). Zhongguo shenxue ji qi wenhua yuanyuan [Chinese Theology and its Cultural Origins] (in Chinese). Nanjing: Nanjing Theological Seminary.
• Wang, Weifan (2009). Shi nian ju ju: Wang Weifan wenji (1997– 2007) [Walking Lonely for Ten Years: Selected Works of Wang Weifan (1997–2007)] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture.
• Wang, Weifan (2011). Nian zai cang mang: Wang Weifan wenji (1979–1998) [In the Wilderness for Two Decades: Selected Works of Wang Weifan (1979–1998)] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture.

See also

• K. H. Ting
• Three-Self Patriotic Movement
• China Christian Council

References

1. England, John C., ed. (2004). Asian Christian Theologies: A Research Guide to Authors, Movements, Sources from the 7th to 20th Centuries 3. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. pp. 193–195.
2. Zhi, Grace (September 18, 2015). "Wang Weifan, Emeritus Professor of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, Dies at ages 88". China Christian Daily. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
3. Lee, Archie Chi Chung (2005). "Contextual Theology in East Asia". In Ford, David F.; Muers, Rachel. The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918 (3 ed.). Book Publishers. p. 527.
4. Chow, Alexander (2016). "Wang Weifan's Cosmic Christ". Modern Theology. doi:10.1111/moth.12260.
5. Wickeri, Philip L. (2007). Reconstructing Christianity in China: K. H. Ting and the Chinese Church. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. pp. 361–363.