Table of Contents

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

About the Author

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. 

Reviews

“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