LI Jin
LI Jin is a PhD student at Calvin Theological Seminary. Prior to seminary he was a PhD candidate in economic history at a Shanghai university. He writes on Christian thought for both public and Christian media outlets in mainland China and Hong Kong.
LI Jin and wife Mary Li Ma have coauthored articles, book chapters, and are the authors of Surviving the State, Remaking the Church: A Sociological Portrait of Christians in Mainland China. They have also guest edited several issues of the ChinaSource Quarterly.
LI is a columnist on social and economic issues for China’s largest financial media group, Caixin.com. He is also a co-founder of Four Seasons Book Review, started in 2018.
Supporting Article
Not Ruling Over but Feeding the Sheep
Thoughts on the Boundaries of Authority and Power in the Chinese Church
What type of church structure would be best for China’s churches? Considerations include China’s historical church governance, the church’s place in society and government, and how to handle situations of power abuse.
Advantages and Challenges for Indigenous Researchers (2)
The Challenges
Four challenges that indigenous researchers face in researching the church in China.
Advantages and Challenges for Indigenous Researchers (1)
The Advantages
Access, trust, and past immersion in essential related fields are three advantages enjoyed by two indigenous Chinese researchers.
Lead Article
Denominationalism or Nondenominationalism?
Is There a Third Way?
The author looks at the history of denominationalism in China and discusses what being part of a denomination means.
Surviving the State, Remaking the Church
A Sociological Portrait of Christians in Mainland China
Selected by the International Bulletin of Mission Research as one of the ten outstanding books of 2017 for Missions Studies, this sociological portrait presents how Chinese Christians have coped with life under a hostile regime over a span of different historical periods, and how Christian churches as collective entities have been reshaped by ripples of social change.
Book Reviews
A Much-Needed Update about Chinese Christianity
China’s Urban Christians: A Light that Cannot Be Hidden by Brent Fulton
Reviewed by Li Jin
Due to urbanization and social change, China’s churches look different today than they did a number of years ago. Urban churches, with unusual diversity, now comprise a major part of Chinese Christianity. Fulton identifies many of the changes the church has experienced that now characterize it and discusses challenges it faces in current society.