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楼主 / lisatsengnn
- 时间: 2025-5-03 22:51The Testimony of Wang Mingdao(王明道):
Wang Mingdao(王明道) (1900–1991) was a highly influential Chinese Christian pastor and evangelist in the 20th century. The following is a summary of the highlights of his life and ministry:
He converted to Christianity at the age of 14 and felt a calling to serve after recovering from a serious illness. He changed his name from Wang Yongsheng to Wang Mingdao, meaning "to understand the true way" or "to bear witness to the truth." He began preaching in his twenties, and by the 1940s, his home gatherings had developed into the Beijing Christian Tabernacle, one of the largest evangelical churches in China at the time.
His sermons emphasized the core doctrines of Christianity, including repentance, conversion, holiness, purity, and the truth of the Bible. He firmly advocated for the independence of the church from government control.
First Arrest
In the 1950s, he refused to join the government-initiated "Three-Self Patriotic Movement," which led to his arrest along with his wife, Liu Jingwen, in the early morning of August 8, 1955. They were charged with counter-revolutionary crimes and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
In prison, he endured intense ideological reform and psychological pressure. To avoid long-term imprisonment or even death, and also worried about his wife's safety, Wang Mingdao signed a confession under mental breakdown after being detained for some time, admitting to some crimes he had not committed and requesting forgiveness. He was subsequently released in September 1956.
Second Arrest
However, after his release, Wang Mingdao was filled with deep remorse and pain. He felt that he had betrayed Christ, comparing himself to the Apostle Peter who denied the Lord three times, and even lost his faith for a time. After a period of reflection and communication with his wife, he realized that he had made the insincere confession under duress, and it was not his true belief and will.
After initially confessing and being released, he later retracted his confession and did not fulfill his promise in prison to cooperate with the Three-Self Movement. On April 29, 1958, Wang Mingdao resolutely confessed to the government that his previous confession was false. As a result, Wang Mingdao and his wife, Liu Jingwen, were arrested and imprisoned again. He was imprisoned for another 23 years until 1980.
In the long years that followed, Wang Mingdao suffered all kinds of hardships in prison, including harsh living conditions, heavy labor, and abuse from other prisoners. Nevertheless, his faith was strengthened in suffering. It was not until 1979, under pressure from the international community, that Wang Mingdao was released from prison, by which time he was an elderly man. His wife, Liu Jingwen, was released earlier in 1974.
On July 28, 1991, Wang Mingdao(王明道) passed away at home at the age of 91. Wang Mingdao and his wife were buried together in the Dongshan Overseas Chinese Cemetery in the suburbs of Suzhou. Wang Mingdao's experience of retracting his confession and being imprisoned again fully demonstrates his loyalty to his faith and his uncompromising spirit.
He preferred to endure long-term imprisonment and suffering rather than betray his conscience and principles of faith. This also earned him a more lofty status and a more profound influence in the Chinese house church movement. -
The Testimony of Wang Mingdao(王明道)
