Eric H.H. Chang (张熙和, born 1934

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, died 2013

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

) was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, a Christian writer, and the leader of a movement called Christian Disciples Church.

Biography

Chang was born in Shanghai, and spent his childhood in war-torn

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, but also for a time in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. As a young adult, he was hostile to Christianity, but became a Christian after a series of encounters with God. In the 1950s, Chang moved to England where he received his biblical and theological training. He graduated from the

Bible Training Institute Bible Training Institute, established in 1892, was a bible college which aimed to evangelise the working classes in Scotland. It was closed in 2018 due to financial deficit. History The foundation of the Bible Training Institute, originally lo ...

(Glasgow) and London Bible College (now London School of Theology), and then read Arts and Divinity at the University of London (

King’s College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: * King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It c ...

and

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

Church Ministry in England and Canada

England was the place of Chang’s formative years of church ministry, first at a church in London, then at a church in Liverpool. He was ordained by the Reverend Andrew MacBeath, principal of the Bible Training Institute. In 1976, Chang was invited to lead a church in Montreal, Canada. Initially there was no church called Christian Disciples Church, but over the years, CDC emerged from its early roots and took on a more international presence, notably in Asia. He served as CDC’s main pastor for three decades, residing mainly in Montreal and Hong Kong. A prominent feature of his ministry is the New Testament pattern of discipleship. This has spawned several church-based trainings which have been the main impetus of a church movement.

Reassessment of Trinitarianism in his later years

First as a divinity student and later as a pastor, Chang had been a staunch trinitarian for several decades, having done much to promote trinitarianism in his teaching and preaching. But around 2005, through a restudy of the Bible, he began to question his own trinitarian perspective on things such as the deity of Christ, concluding that it is not supported by the biblical data. In 2009, he wrote ''The Only True God: A Study of Biblical Monotheism'', to present the biblical evidence against his former trinitarian Christology. This was followed by ''The Only Perfect Man'', which focuses the discussion on Jesus Christ. His writings on biblical monotheism have received the attention of a few Christian writers in the western world such as Sir Anthony F. Buzzard, J. Dan Gill, and Greg S. Deuble, but also among some movements in Asia. His writings are discussed positively in a theological compilation, ''One God, the Father'', by Thomas E. Gaston of Oxford University, in a chapter, ''Biblical Monotheism Today'', by

Rob J. Hyndman Robin John Hyndman (born 2 May 1967) is an Australian statistician known for his work on forecasting and time series. He is Professor of Statistics at Monash University and was Editor-in-Chief of the ''International Journal of Forecasting'' f ...

of Monash University, Melbourne.

Books

Chang, Eric H.H.(2009, 2017). ''The Only True God: A Study of Biblical Monotheism''. . ——— (2013). ''The Only Perfect Man: The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ''. . ——— (2000, 2007, 2017). ''How I Have Come to Know the Living God: Testifying to God’s Reality and Goodness''. . ——— (2001, 2015). ''Totally Committed! The Importance of Commitment in Biblical Teaching''. . ——— (2004). ''Becoming a New Person: What the Bible Teaches About Regeneration, Renewal, and Christ-likeness''. 978-1532898150

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Eric 1934 births 2013 deaths Pastors from Shanghai Alumni of the London School of Theology Alumni of King's College London Alumni of SOAS University of London Canadian people of Chinese descent