A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
F. S. Ramsey, accepted baptism in Jesus’ name by 1915
under the influence of Ewart’s Meat in Due Season.
Great revival erupted from Ramsey’s base in Ta Fung Fu,
Shansi Province, northern China. By 1917, Paul Wei, a
Chinese Pentecostal, had embraced the Oneness message,
and he established the True Jesus Church in
Tianjin and Beijing (his hometown). By 1918 he was
joined by Chang Ling Sheng and Barnabas Chang. Sheng
had been baptized in Jesus’ name by Ramsey, and he
assumed leadership of the True Jesus Church when Wei
died in 1919. The True Jesus Church is now the largest
church in China and one of the largest in Taiwan. It
reports 12,000 churches and 3,300,000 constituents
worldwide, with 3,000,000 in mainland China and
100,000 in Taiwan. 110
As its name indicates, the True Jesus Church is a
strong Oneness organization. It teaches baptism in Jesus’
name and the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the new birth.
It also advocates holiness in lifestyle and dress. It holds
two doctrines unusual for Pentecostals, however: it
strongly advocates worship on the Sabbath, and it allows
infant baptism. 111 Moreover, “baptism must be full immersion
in natural, living [flowing] water . . . with the candidate’s
head facing downward.” 112
The True Jesus Church is the second largest Oneness
Pentecostal body in the world. When we consider the total
number of churches and ministers, as well as our estimates
of inclusive constituency, the UPCI is clearly the
largest.
In the early years of the movement, there were more
Oneness missionaries in China than any other country. All
missionaries were expelled when the communists seized
108