Branded as "the new Falun Gong" by local authorities, The Church of Almighty God is the most persecuted religious movement in China today. Thousands of police officers are deployed full time to identify and arrest its members. Hundreds of thousands of its devotees are in jail. Authorities claim, perhaps hyperbolically, that it has some four million members and accuse the group of serious crimes. Yet, the movement continues to grow. In this ground-breaking study, Massimo Introvigne offers an inside look at this once-elusive movement, sharing interviews with hundreds of members and the Chinese police officers who hunt them down. The story of The Church of Almighty God is one of rapid growth, dramatic persecution, and the struggle of believers to seek asylum in countries around the world. In his telling of the story, Introvigne reconstructs the Church's idiosyncratic theology, centered in the belief that Jesus Christ has returned in our time in the shape of a Chinese woman, worshipped as Almighty God, to eradicate the sinful nature of humans, and that we have entered the third and final time period in the history of humanity: the Age of Kingdom. A major book from one of the world's leading scholars of new religious movements, Inside The Church of Almighty God is a critical addition to the scholarship of Chinese religion.

About the Author
Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist, is the managing director of CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, in Torino, Italy, and the author of some 70 books in the fields of new religious movements and religious pluralism. In 2011, he served as the Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for combating racism, xenophobia, and intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions. From 2012 to 2015 he was the chairperson of the Italian Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reviews
The book is the natural outcome of his scholarly- cum- activist engagement with the Chinese context: the Church of Almighty God ( Quannengshen Jiaohui) indeed being the PRC's new religious "nemesis" resulting in heavy persecution. As such, the book embraces both a scholarly and an activist character. * Lukas Pokorny, Religious Studies Review *
Overall, Introvigne's work is quite sympathetic toward the plight of CAG; in many ways the book reads like an apologetic for the movement. In addition to his use of surveys and interviews, the author quotes extensively from the group's scriptures and other published documents. * Matthew Winslow, Lecturer, Historical and Theological Studies, East Asia School of Theology, Cru, Singapore, Mission Studies *
This volume is a testimonial and comprehensive study of the sociocultural landscape of a new religious movement in contemporary China. * David W. Kim, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea; Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, Journal of Church and State *
Easy and enjoyable to read, Massimo Introvigne has provided compelling and valuable stories. * Richard Cook, Evangelical Missions Quarterly *
A valuable resource for students of new religious movements. * Scott Lowe, Nova Religio *
an extremely useful volume on a group that has been fundamentally misunderstood to this point. * David Ownby, Universite de Montreal, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190089092
Author Massimo Introvigne
Format Hardback
Page Count 168
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions(mm) 147mm * 208mm * 25mm