Christian Circulations
Global Christianity and the Local Church in Penang and Singapore, 1819-2000

Jean DeBernardi (Author)

9789813251090

Paperback / softback, published 30 September 2020

472 pages, 45 halftones, 5 maps
22.6 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.663 kg

"A landmark publication on two counts. It not only re-inserts the historical significance of the Brethren churches in Malaysian and Singaporean Christianity, but also provides an important point of departure for future scholarship on the intersections between this stream of Christianity and socio-cultural and political shifts in modern postcolonial nation-states in the region.” - Studies in World Christianity

In postcolonial Singapore and Malaysia, Pentecostal megachurches dominate the Christian landscape, but  the "big four" Protestant churches-Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Brethren-remain religions of heritage for many. Sixty Malaysian and nineteen Singaporean assemblies identify themselves as Christian Brethren, and most trace their roots to independent local churches formed in Penang and Singapore in the 1860s. After World War II, former Brethren elders founded new independent churches, from charismatic local churches and Pentecostal megachurches to a small network of Exclusive Brethren assemblies. This study is a transregional history of the Brethren movement and its emplacement in Singapore and Malaysia, but is also a history of discontinuous continuities that have shaped the modern field of religious practice in China and Southeast Asia.

• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Introduction: Christian Circulations
• Part I: The Open Brethren Movement
• Chapter 1: The Brethren Movement and the Local Church
• Chapter 2: George Mü
  ller, Anthony Norris Groves, and the Local Church in India
• Part II: Penang and China
• Chapter 3: The London Missionary Society in Penang, 1819-1843
• Chapter 4: The Brethren Movement and the Penang Mission
• Chapter 5: Revival and Rebellion in China
• Chapter 6: Crisis in the Penang Mission
• Chapter 7: Hokkien Evangelists
• Part III: Circulations
• Chapter 8: Singapore: Visiting Every City
• Chapter 9: Penang and its Networks, 1874-1912
• Chapter 10: Alexander Grant and the Boxer Uprising
• Part IV: Schism and Continuity
• Chapter 11: Chinese Revivalists in Southeast Asia, 1929-1943
• Chapter 12: Wilson Wang and Teh Phai Lian
• Chapter 13: A New Local Church Movement and Living Waters
• Chapter 14: Schism and Continuity
• Chapter 15: The Full Gospel Assemblies and the Charismatic Church of Penang Conclusion: The Brethren Movement and its Modern Fate Chinese
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index