Ding Guangxun

(Bishop Ding)

b. 20 September 1915, Shanghai

Bishop, Protestant church leader, politician

Chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), president of the China Christian Council from late 1980 until early 1997 and president of Jinling Union Theological Seminary from 1953, Ding is also one of the vice chairmen of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a standing committee member of the National People’s Congress.

Ding grew up in Shanghai and received a BA from St John’s University in Shanghai 1937, followed by a BD from the same institution in 1942. The same year he was ordained as an Anglican priest. In 1948 he moved to Geneva to serve as mission secretary for the World Student Christian Federation after working two years in Canada with student work.

After returning to China in 1951 he supported the TSPM and soon became one of its leading spokesmen. In 1955 he was consecrated bishop of the Anglican diocese of Zhejiang. Ding has played a decisive role in the development of Protestant Christianity in China after 1949, but has sometimes been criticized by more evangelical groups in the Church. He is one of the most well-known Chinese theologians. His theology emphasizes the unending love of God, the Cosmic Christ and the participation of Christians in society.

See also: Christianity (Protestantism)

Further reading

Ting, K.H. (1999). Love Never Ends, Nanjing: Yilin.

FREDERIK FÄLLMAN