ABSTRACT
A Sinified Christianity flourishes in China today, but relations between Chinese Christianity and universal Christianity remain tenuous and uneasy. Many of the current variations and accents in Chinese Protestantism can be traced back to the earliest Chinese evangelists and converts, who began to evolve their own interpretive emphases and their own methodology. The Basel evangelist Jiang Jiaoren reported that some villagers in the Xinan district of Guangdong had begun to question the competence of their local god, but nevertheless, continued to perform the rituals and hold festivals. Chinese evangelists often presented their Christian God as more powerful than the local deities. Individuals sought more than an explanation for the pervasive social ills; they craved hope and comfort. Many evangelistic ministers of the mid-nineteenth century firmly believed and preached that all heathens were doomed to hell, while only baptized Christians could hope for salvation in heaven.
