True Jesus Church
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The True Jesus Church is a non-denominational (independent) church that was established in Beijing, China in 1917. The current elected chairman of the TJC International Assembly is Preacher Yung-Ji Lin. Today, there are approximately between 1.5 to 2.5 million believers in forty five countries and six continents. The church is a Chinese offshoot of the Pentecostal branch of Christianity that emerged during the early twentieth century. The church also adheres to Oneness Pentecostal theology (Jesus-Name doctrine). They were also one of the three indigenous Chinese house churches that existed before the Communist takeover of China in 1949 . The church aims to preach the gospel to all nations before the Second Coming of Jesus.
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[edit] The ten main doctrines and beliefs
The ten essential doctrines and beliefs of the True Jesus Church are:
1. Holy Spirit: "Receiving the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is the guarantee of our inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven".
2. Baptism: "Water baptism is the sacrament for the remission of sins and for regeneration. The baptism must take place in natural living water, such as the river, sea, or spring. The Baptist, whom already has had received baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, conducts the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the person receiving the baptism must be completely immersed in water with head bowed and face downward".
3. Feet Washing: "The sacrament of feet washing enables one to have a part with the Lord Jesus. It also serves as a constant reminder that one should have love, holiness, humility, forgiveness and service. Every person who has received water baptism must have their feet washed in the name of Jesus Christ. Mutual feet washing may be practiced whenever is appropriate".
4. Holy Communion: "The Holy Communion is the sacrament to commemorate the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It enables us to partake of the flesh and blood of our Lord and to be in communion with Him so that we can have eternal life and be raised on the Last Day. This sacrament shall be held as often as possible. Only one unleavened bread and grape juice shall be used".
5. Sabbath Day: "The Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week (Saturday), is a Holy Day, blessed and sanctified by God. It is to be observed under the Lord's grace for the commemoration of God's creation and salvation and with the hope of eternal rest in the life to come".
6. Jesus Christ: "Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh, died on the cross for the redemption of sinners, resurrected on the third day and ascended to heaven. He is the only Saviour of mankind, the Creator of the heavens and earth, and the only True God".
The church differs from most Christian denominations in that they do not believe the doctrine of the Trinity, in which Jesus is one of three persons making up a single Godhead. They adhere to a Oneness Pentecostal view of God.
7. The Bible: "The Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, the only scriptural truth, and the standard for Christian living".
8. Salvation: "Salvation is given by the grace of God through faith. Believers must rely on the Holy Spirit to pursue holiness, to honour God, and to love humanity".
9. The Church: "The True Jesus Church, established by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit during the time of the 'latter rain', is the restored True Church of the Apostolic time".
10. Second Coming: "The Lord's Second Coming will take place on the Last Day when He descends from heaven to judge the world: the righteous will receive eternal life, while the wicked will be eternally condemned".
This is the latest English version that was adopted during the 9th TJC Delegates Conference in May 2005 .
[edit] Other beliefs
The church does not celebrate Christmas since the 25th of December was originally associated with a pagan ritual celebrating the birthday of the Sun which was later adopted into the Christian church during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD.
[edit] Historical background and origins
The successful attempts to evangelize China by Nestorian Christians from Persia (635-845 AD), the Roman Catholics and Jesuits (1265, 1601-1724) were short lived - they fell out of favour with the Chinese emperor and saw only scattered underground efforts .
The first Protestant missionaries to labor on Chinese soil began in 1807 with the arrival of the Scotsman Robert Morrison. After the Opium War in the 1840s missionaries from all over the world began to arrive in China. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission in 1865.
The 19th century witnessed a great increase in the number of Christians. In 1900 there were almost 111,000 Protestant Christians with 1,600 Chinese Christian workers and 2,000 missionaries.
[edit] The Pentecostal movement in China and the origins of TJC
Following the Pentecostal movement in the United States in the 1900s, an Apostolic Faith Mission church was established in Shanghai and many Chinese Christians subsequently received the Holy Spirit.
Not long after the Boxer rebellion, attacks and persecutions in 1900, many Chinese Christians advocated a "Three-Self Movement", which promoted the strategy of 'self-governing, self-supportive, and self-propagating' in order to reduce foreign influences or interference on the Chinese churches. Several churches were localised or indigenised .
The three early founders of the True Jesus Church also supported this idea and, through the inspiration and revelations of the Holy Spirit , they decided to break away from their mainstream pentecostal churches. They were Paul Wei, Ling-Sheng Zhang, and later Barnabas Zhang.
The early workers firmly believed that it was the Lord's will for them to set up a true church that would correct all the past errors and misinterpretations in the doctrines of the other denominations and eventually reach perfection before the Lord's second coming.
For more facts and information, see the Regional histories below, China's TJC History, and Taiwan's TJC History.
Although still regarded as a Chinese church, the True Jesus Church is becoming increasingly globalised today as the gospel of Jesus is preached in countries all over the world.
[edit] Regional histories
- True Jesus Church in China
- True Jesus Church in Taiwan
- True Jesus Church in Singapore
- True Jesus Church in Malaysia [6]
- True Jesus Church in India
- True Jesus Church in Japan
- True Jesus Church in Korea
- True Jesus Church in the Philippines
- True Jesus Church in Myanmar
- True Jesus Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1956 the Taiwanese General Assembly was established in Taichung.
In 1967 the International Assembly was formed in Los Angeles, United States (their administrative branch) .
Although most of the believers were located in China, contact with the mainland was lost shortly after the 1949 Communist takeover in and subsequent persecution of Christians throughout China.
[edit] Membership
The church claimed in 2004 to have 440 churches and 106 prayer houses with 86,970 members from around 39 countries in six continents and prudent estimates of over 2.4 million more members in China .
- TJC Asia
- Northeast Asia - China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan.
- Southeast Asia - Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
- TJC Americas
- North America - Canada, United States
- Latin America - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and the Dominican Republic.
- TJC Oceania - Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.
- TJC Europe - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom
- TJC Africa - Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone. Tanzania, Uganda, Togo.
[edit] Administration
The divine workers are the Elders, Deacons and Preachers which are all below the fellow believers in the system .
Nowadays, representatives from each of the True Jesus Churches in the world meet once every few years to elect a chairman of the International Assembly which focuses on the Church's development and future progress internationally.
There is a General Assembly in most of the countries mentioned above. The General assembly comprises of the Theology institution, Financial sector.
In some countries where there are not enough numbers of believers, prayer houses are established. When the number of believers are sufficient, a church dedication ceremony is made.
[edit] Nomenclature
Initially, the proposed name was "Jesus True Church" (耶穌真教會) but while the application for the church’s name was being registered at the Beijing police station the characters were accidentally assembled as “True Jesus Church” (真耶穌教會) and attached onto the church building. By 1927, the Shanghai TJC General Assembly decided to stick to the name.
[edit] References, Notes and Further Reading
- ↑ House Churches in China, From The Sabbath Sentinel
- ↑ The Statement of Faith
- ↑ A brief introduction to the church history
- ↑ History of Missions in China
- ↑ Quick Facts About the True Jesus Church
- ↑ The Organizational structure of the church (In chinese)
- ↑ China's church history: Chinese indigenisation
- ↑ The Nomenclature facts (In chinese)
- Further Reading: Christianity and China (2001): Burdened Past, Hopeful Future - Stephen Uhalley and Xiaoxin Wu
