Liang A-Fa: China's First Preacher 1789-1855 (Studies in Chinese Christianity)

Liang Fa holds a unique place in the history of Christianity in China. Baptized and ordained by the first Protestant missionaries to China Liang aided the first two generations of missionaries and conducted his own work as an evangelist and writer. Liang alone in the first generation wrote and published under his name and his most famous tract is believed to have influenced the Taiping Rebellion. While George McNeurs biography of Liang has been republished regularly in Chinese this is the first republication in English since the 1930s. It remains the best work on an influential but little-studied figure. Annotated and with a critical introduction this work seeks to revive scholarship on Liang as we approach the two-hundredth anniversary of his baptism. The voices of indigenous Chinese Christians from the nineteenth century are rarely heard and those from the early nineteenth century are rarer still. Jonathan Seitzs first-class critical edition of George Hunter McNeurs classic biography of Liang A-Fa is therefore to be warmly welcomed. It opens a fascinating window into the mind of one of the very first Chinese Protestants. --Brian Stanley Professor of World Christianity and Director Centre for the Study of World Christianity University of Edinburgh First published in 1934 George McNeurs valuable but rare biography of the early Chinese convert and preacher Liang A-Fa will reach new readers thanks to the splendid work of Jonathan Seitz. By adding notes a glossary and an excellent scholarly introduction Seitz has made this new edition of the classic biography into essential reading for everyone interested in Chinese Christianity. --Ryan Dunch University of Alberta Jonathan A. Seitz is Assistant Professor at Taiwan Theological Seminary in Taipei Taiwan.