“Eastern Lightning Destroyed My Family”
The article translated below is a testimony from a Christian man who lost his wife to the Eastern Lightning Cult. It is posted on a Mainland-based website called Kuanye Zhi Sheng (Voice in the Wilderness).
探討華人處境下的多元宗教傳統與當代宗教生活,包括佛教、道教、伊斯蘭教、民間信仰,以及它們與基督教的互動。
The article translated below is a testimony from a Christian man who lost his wife to the Eastern Lightning Cult. It is posted on a Mainland-based website called Kuanye Zhi Sheng (Voice in the Wilderness).
Current evidence is that religion is flourishing in China. However, practical problems make statistical statements for the number of religious believers in China quite hazardous. The author cautiously examines the evidence that exists for each of the five, major, officially-recognized religious faiths in China.
China's Eastern Lightning cult is back in the news again, thanks to the ancient Mayans. It seems that their calendar comes to an end on December 21, causing millions to believe that the day will mark the end of the world. The "doomsday" craze has hit China big-time and the Eastern Lightning cult (which, for some reason, media outlets have taken to calling the Almighty God cult) has used the opportunity to launch an "evangelistic" offensive in China, telling people that the only way to be saved from the coming apocalypse is to join the Eastern Lightning group.
As the new year began in China, the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012 was a hot topic of conversation, for both Christians and non-Christians alike. This article, published in the Gospel Times on January 6, 2012 addressed the question from a Biblical perspective.