Ling-Sheng Zhang ( zh, 張靈生,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Zhāng Língshēng''; 1863 – ?) was a Chinese

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

, born in

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

. Zhang converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

at the age of thirty seven and became a member of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church for seven years and was then appointed as a

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

for three years. In 1909 after hearing a testimony from a church Elder, Ling-sheng went to the

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Apostolic Faith Mission Apostolic Faith Mission is the name of several Pentecostal congregations and denominations, and may refer to: * Apostolic Faith Mission (Brooklyn), New York City *Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa * Apostolic Faith Mission Church of God, Mobi ...

to study. Zhang returned home on 21 December of that same year and entered a church hall one morning in order to pray alone. It was at this time he began experiencing

glossolalia Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...

, claiming to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. The following year after closely studying the

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

doctrines Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolo ...

, he subsequently changed his

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

services to Saturdays instead of Sunday. During 1913 and 1914 Ling-Sheng began forming the "

True Jesus Church The True Jesus Church (TJC) is a non-denominational Christian Church, with Oneness Pentecostal theology, that originated in Beijing, China, during the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century. The True Jesus Church is currently one ...

" and held services at his home with friends and relatives. In 1917 Ling-Sheng went to the Church of God in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and there he met an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

missionary named Berntsen who also kept the Sabbath on Saturdays and whom preached on issues concerning the

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of the Holy Spirit. Ling-sheng then accepted the

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism, ''semikhah'' (, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christianity, Christian churches, chirotony. is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

by Berntsen and two other Elders and as a result was ordained as a Deacon. In the Spring of 1918, Ling-sheng started preaching the gospel of the True Jesus Church in co-operation with Paul Wei, another co-worker. Most of their labour was concentrated in the Northern regions of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Ling-Sheng later returned to his hometown of

and settled down and became the pastor of the local church. According to oral source from some priest in True Jesus Church, in his later life, he was experiencing "spiritual laughing" for two years until his death.

Notes

#The

's three basic faiths were: ##Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues, ##belief in the One True God instead of

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

and ##performing baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus (instead of the Father and the Holy Spirit). ##Berntsen 's Apostolic Faith church also performed

feet washing The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of o ...

. However his church later changed to the Church of God and later switched again to the

Assembly of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

See also

Notes

Further reading