Preface / ix
Chapter 1: The New Religious Awakening in China / 1
Chapter 2: Christian Missions to China: 1860–1950 / 13
Chapter 3: Repression and Christian Resistance / 43
Chapter 4: Converting the Educated / 75
Chapter 5: Converting Rural China / 91
Chapter 6: Future Prospects and Consequences / 113
Notes / 127
Bibliography / 131
Index / 141
Rodney Stark is the Distinguished Professor of the Social
Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion
at Baylor University and Honorary Professor of Sociology at Peking
University in Beijing. He is the author or co-author of 36 books in
17 different languages, including the best-selling The Rise of
Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997).
Xiuhua Wang received her BA and MA from Renmin University of
China in Beijing and is now working towards her Ph.D. in sociology
at Baylor University. She has published several papers in American
scholarly journals and at present is exploring the role of gender
in conversions to Christianity in China.
“Sociologist Rodney Stark has done it again. Readers who
enjoyed his earlier works on the Crusades, the rise of Christianity
in the Roman Empire, and Christianity’s role in ending slavery will
be grateful that he has now applied his brilliance to
China.” — David Aikman, author of Jesus in Beijing and other
books, and former China correspondent for TIME magazine
“This is a concise, well-written, and stimulating account of the
growth and prospects of Christianity in the world’s largest
socialist society. Rodney Stark, a leading theorist in the
sociology of religion, well-known for his explanations of the rise
of Christianity in the Mediterranean world, collaborates with a
young scholar from mainland China to describe and explain the
extraordinary recent growth of Christianity in China. Highly
recommended.” — Graeme Lang, retired professor of sociology
(2014), and founder of Asian and International Studies, City
University of Hong Kong
“In this brief, very readable account of Christianity in China,
authors Stark and Wang argue that cultural incongruity is what has
made an opening in Chinese hearts and minds for the Christian
faith, while familial and social networking account for the robust
patterns of conversion. And contrary to theories that reduce
religion to consolation for the poor and marginal, Stark and Wang
find that Chinese Christianity is more favored by the affluent and
well-educated. This book is a valuable addition to the
growing effort to understand Christianity’s rise in China.” —
Joel Carpenter, Nagel Institute for the Study of World
Christianity, Calvin College
“Books on contemporary China have proliferated in recent years, and
plenty of them address the remarkable growth of Christianity. What
makes A Star in the East wholly distinctive though— and so very
valuable—is its reliance on credible and strictly current
quantitative evidence. The book thus provides an essential
foundation for any future discussion of the religious scene in
contemporary China.” — Philip Jenkins, Baylor University
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