Don’t Be Like the Gentiles (1974–Present)

Within China’s diverse civil society, certain groups including Christian churches like the True Jesus Church are autonomous ideological communities (communities oriented around a shared ideology or set of truth-claims about the nature of reality, including the moral dimensions of right and wrong). Autonomous ideological communities (or “truth-claiming” groups) are not hermetically sealed off from surrounding society, but their strong ideological orientation creates a distinctive and complex community culture. Within the True Jesus Church, efficacious charismatic practices such as healing, exorcism, and tongues-speaking strengthen shared community culture by certifying that the church’s sacred worldview, governance, and shared way of life are legitimate (rooted in truth). This shared culture within the church gives rise to discourse that sometimes rejects Chinese society and sometimes affirms it, but always refers back to the church’s own internal truth-claims as the basis for engaging with the wider world. Despite the stereotypically “uncivil” insularity and exclusivity of the True Jesus Church’s teachings, its strong community culture strengthens civil society on a society-wide scale by valuing truth, building trust, and contributing to ideological pluralism.