Introduction: the Brethren in Modern China 'Beyond any other British denomination, Open Brethren have become noted for their missionary outlook.' 1 Thus has asserted Tim Grass, in his history of the Brethren movement. Despite this, other than from their own historians, the Brethren have received little coverage in studies of missions. 2 This oversight is especially noticeable in the case of China, where the Brethren influence was particularly strong. As well as sending their own missionaries, the Brethren had a formative influence on China's largest Protestant mission, the China Inland Mission (CIM). 3 That the
This article will examine aspects of Watchman Nee's interactions with British churches and missions during the 1920s and 1930s. It will argue that, rather than simply appropriating and adapting Christianity for a Chinese context, as has been claimed, a more complex exchange was taking place. In particular, Nee was seeking to develop churches in China on a primitivist basis – that is, using the New Testament as a model for church forms and practices. In this, he was drawing inspiration from the Christian (or Plymouth) Brethren, a radical evangelical group that had emerged in Britain during the nineteenth century. For a number of reasons, the significance of Nee's primitivism has been played down, both by his admirers in the West and by historians. However, it was a vital factor in the success of his movement and gave an important impetus to the spread of Christianity in China during the twentieth century.
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