Results for: eastern lightning
Lead Article
Denominationalism or Nondenominationalism?
Is There a Third Way?
[…] From the 1980s to around 2000, because of their secrecy, closed stance, and political persecution, some evangelistic teams even strayed away to form emerging cults such as Eastern Lightning. Other groups migrated to the cities as the speed of urbanization increased. They formed organizations that preserved the key teachings and denominational features in their urban […]
House Churches and Cults – the Dangers of Mistaken Identity
[…] what is a legitimate expression of Christianity. The Almighty God cult has been around for quite some time but was known more commonly in earlier years as Eastern Lightning. For a look at the origins of Eastern Lightning/Almighty God cult read "Where Did Eastern Lightning Come From?" Increasing levels of violence have marked the tactics […]
ZGBriefs | May 20, 2021
[…] of China who want to stay connected with our friends there have: What can we do? What can we not do? What should we do? What should we not do? The Families Torn Apart by Eastern Lightning (May 15, 2021, The World of Chinese) According to Wang Yu, a religion researcher at the Communist Party school of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and one of […]
ZGBriefs The Weeks Top Picks, March 27 Issue
Two articles about religion, a missing jetliner, and eye-popping gifs of China's urbanization; these are our top picks this week.
ZGBriefs | December 24, 2020
[…] many people are ready to put 2020 behind them. This article from Roots Education encourages families to begin planning for 2021. The Men Who Lost Their Wives to ‘ Eastern Lightning’ (December 22, 2020, Sixth Tone) According to experts, Eastern Lightning commonly targets women from rural areas whose husbands are migrant workers and spend most of the year far […]
Lead Article
China’s WTO Accession—One Year Later
[…] and development of various new religious groups in China, some introduced by foreigners, such as the Ba’hai, while most others are indigenous groups such as Falungong and Eastern Lightning. These groups do not fall into the category of the narrowly defined “normal religions” of the government. Therefore, they are illegal and are targeted for suppression […]
Spiritual Authority and Power Abuse
A Reader's Response to "Leadership Ethics"
[…] into conformity to their own ideology and praxis. Conformity is idealized and rewarded; diversity is demonized and punished. Power abuse is devastating on a personal level. The Eastern Lightning (Almighty God) Cult is one example. If it gains traction, ideological power abuse can produce chaos in churches (like LL’s church) and even in society. The […]
Supporting Article
Facets of the Chinese Church
[…] has become the greatest threat during the past decade. There are at least 18 indigenous cults in China with the most vicious, vile, and aggressive being the Eastern Lightning group. While house church leaders are learning to identify Eastern Lightning subversives and their tactics, they are not well equipped to discern between theological nonnegotiables and […]
House Churches and Anti-cult Campaigns
Last week five members of the Almighty God cult (formerly known as Eastern Lightning went on trial for brutally murdering a woman in a MacDonalds restaurant in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province. The murder shocked the nation and prompted the government to launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal cults, or xie jiao (lit. evil religion).
A Xinjiang Pastor on How to Discern True and False Gods
[…] an internet post by a pastor from Xinjiang Autonomous Region on how to discern true and false gods. The context of the article is resurgence of the Eastern Lightning cult last winter. The pastor reminds believers to focus on the attributes of God when discerning false teachings from true teachings. He then spells out five […]