On Thursday, April 7, we hosted our first webinar of the year, titled “Chinese Christianity in the Modern Era: Making Sense of the Present in Light of the Past.” The presenter was Dr. Easten Law, Assistant Director for Academic Programs at the Overseas Ministries Study Center at Princeton Theological Seminary and a regular contributor to ChinaSource.
In this webinar, Dr. Law provided a historical overview of the different threads running through Chinese Christianity’s modern development, including themes of folk religiosity and healing, ethical living, familial belonging, and national salvation. He discussed what these historical themes can tell us about the church’s role amidst China’s current inward, nationalistic turn and how we should orient ourselves in response.
Knowing that many foreign workers are mourning the changes that have come about in China’s sociopolitical environment over the past decade, this presentation also contained a pastoral undercurrent, affirming the reality that the Chinese Church in all its forms has been and will continue to be in God’s hands.
A video recording of the webinar is now publicly available below and on our YouTube channel.
In addition, Dr. Law has kindly provided us with a pdf version of his slides.
About Easten Law
Easten Law is the Assistant Director for Academic Programs at the Overseas Ministries Study Center at Princeton Theological Seminary (OMSC@PTS). His research focuses on lived theology, public life, and religious pluralism in contemporary China. He completed his PhD at Georgetown University, an MDiv at Wesley Theological Seminary, and an MA in Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College.
