Wang Weifan
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Wang Weifan
| native_name = Wang Weifan ({{zh|t=汪維藩|s=汪维藩}})
| native_name_lang = Chinese
| church = Three-Self Patriotic Movement
| other_post = Emeritus Professor, Nanjing Union Theological Seminary
| birth_date = 1927
| birth_place = Taizhou, Jiangsu
| death_date = 2015
| death_place = Nanjing
| alma_mater = National Central University, Nanjing Union Theological Seminary
}}
Wang Weifan ({{zh|t=汪維藩|s=汪维藩|p=Wāng Wéifān}}; 1927–2015) was an evangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctioned Protestant church of mainland China, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004322127_002|title=Yearbook of Chinese Theology 2016|last=Yao|first=Kevin Xiyi|publisher=Brill|year=2016|isbn=978-9004322103|editor-last=Huang|editor-first=Paulos Z.|location=Leiden|pages=3–16|chapter=Wang Wei-fan’s Evangelical Theology: Its Significance for the Church in China Today|doi=10.1163/9789004322127_002}} He was well-loved as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer.{{cite news |last=Zhi |first=Grace |date= September 18, 2015 |title=Wang Weifan, Emeritus Professor of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, Dies at ages 88 |url=http://www.chinachristiandaily.com/2015-09-18/ministry/wang-weifan-2c-emeritus-professor-of-nanjing-union-theological-seminary-2c-dies-at-ages-88_131.html |newspaper=China Christian Daily |access-date=March 17, 2016 }}
Biography
Wang Weifan was born into a non-Christian home in Taizhou, Jiangsu province. He became a Christian in 1947 while studying Chinese literature at National Central University in Nanjing and became active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Wang would go onto further studies in China Theological Seminary in Hangzhou ({{Zh|c=|s=杭州中国神学院|t=|p=Hángzhōu Zhōngguó shénxuéyuàn}}), which would later merge with Nanjing Union Theological Seminary ({{zh|s=金陵协和神学院|p=Jīnlíng xiéhé shénxuéyuàn}}) in 1952. He would graduate from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary three years later in 1955.
Wang would be criticized during the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1958 and, later, during the Cultural Revolution.{{Cite book|title=Lilies of the Field: Meditations for the Church Year|last=Wickeri|first=Janice K.|publisher=The Upper Room|year=1993|location=Nashville, TN|pages=5–8|chapter=Preface}}
After public religious practice was allowed again in China following the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wang taught New Testament at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and was the head of the publications department.{{cite book |editor-last=England |editor-first=John C. |date=2004 |title=Asian Christian Theologies: A Research Guide to Authors, Movements, Sources from the 7th to 20th Centuries|volume=3|location=Maryknoll, NY|publisher=Orbis Books|pages=193–195}}
Theology
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" ({{zh|c=生生神|p=shēng shēng shén}}):
{{quotation |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.{{cite book |last= Lee |first=Archie Chi Chung |editor-last1=Ford |editor-first1=David F.|editor-last2=Muers|editor-first2=Rachel |title=The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918 |publisher=Book Publishers |date=2005|edition=3 |page=527 |chapter=Contextual Theology in East Asia}}}}
Like other leaders of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement 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.{{cite journal|last=Chow|first=Alexander|date=2016|title=Wang Weifan's Cosmic Christ|journal=Modern Theology|volume=32|issue=3|pages=384–396|doi=10.1111/moth.12260|url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/23714805/Chow_Wang_Weifan_s_Cosmic_Christ.pdf|hdl=20.500.11820/354a4459-7dbe-41a1-bc83-4bd08245fcb9|hdl-access=free}}
Due to his evangelical theology, Wang Weifan would in the 1990s be pushed into retirement during the "theological reconstruction movement" by his friend and colleague K. H. Ting.{{cite book|title=Reconstructing Christianity in China: K. H. Ting and the Chinese Church|last=Wickeri|first=Philip L.|date=2007|publisher=Orbis Books|location=Maryknoll, NY|pages=353, 361–363}}
Works
- {{cite book |last=Wang |first=Weifan |date=1993 |title=Lilies of the Field: Meditations for the Church Year|location=Nashville, TN|publisher=The Upper Room}}
- {{cite book |last=Wang |first=Weifan |date=1997 |title=Zhongguo shenxue ji qi wenhua yuanyuan |trans-title= Chinese Theology and its Cultural Origins |language=zh |location=Nanjing |publisher=Nanjing Theological Seminary}}
- {{cite book |last=Wang |first=Weifan |date=2009 |title=Shi nian ju ju: Wang Weifan wenji (1997– 2007) |trans-title=Walking Lonely for Ten Years: Selected Works of Wang Weifan (1997–2007) |language=zh |location=Hong Kong |publisher= Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture}}
- {{cite book |last= Wang |first=Weifan |date=2011 |title=Nian zai cang mang: Wang Weifan wenji (1979–1998) |trans-title=In the Wilderness for Two Decades: Selected Works of Wang Weifan (1979–1998) |language=zh |location=Hong Kong |publisher= Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{China Christian Council and Three-Self Patriotic Movement}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Weifan}}
Category:Chinese Christian theologians
Category:Chinese Protestant ministers and clergy