Wang Weifan | |
|---|---|
| Native name | |
| Church | Three-Self Patriotic Movement |
| Other posts | Emeritus Professor,Nanjing Union Theological Seminary |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1927 (1927) |
| Died | 2015 (aged 87–88) |
| Alma mater | National Central University,Nanjing Union Theological Seminary |
Wang Weifan (simplified Chinese:汪维藩;traditional Chinese:汪維藩;pinyin:Wāng Wéifān; 1927–2015) was anevangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctionedProtestant church of mainland China, theThree-Self Patriotic Movement.[1] He was well-loved as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer.[2][3]
Wang Weifan was born into a non-Christian home inTaizhou,Jiangsu province. He became a Christian in 1947 while studyingChinese literature atNational Central University inNanjing and became active inInterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Wang would go onto further studies in China Theological Seminary in Hangzhou (Chinese:杭州中国神学院;pinyin:Hángzhōu Zhōngguó shénxuéyuàn), which would later merge withNanjing Union Theological Seminary (Chinese:金陵协和神学院;pinyin:Jīnlíng xiéhé shénxuéyuàn) in 1952. He would graduate from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary three years later in 1955.[4]
Wang would be criticized during theAnti-Rightist Movement in 1958 and, later, during the Cultural Revolution.[4]
After public religious practice was allowed again in China following the end of theCultural Revolution, Wang taughtNew Testament atNanjing Union Theological Seminary and was the head of the publications department.[2]
Wang Weifan died on September 15, 2015, in Nanjing.[3]
Wang Weifan's theological thinking brought together Chinese classical thought and traditional western theology. Borrowing from theYijing, 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 wordsheng (“life”). God is understood as a God ofsheng sheng, “a Life-Birthing God” – the firstsheng 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.[5]
Like other leaders of theThree-Self Patriotic Movement such asK. H. Ting, Wang also spoke of acosmic Christology, with a strong emphasis on theIncarnation, and held to a Christocentric mysticism.[2][6]
Due to hisevangelical theology, Wang Weifan would in the 1990s be pushed into retirement during the "theological reconstruction movement" by his friend and colleagueK. H. Ting.[7]
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