by Timothy Garner Conkling (Author)
In this concise yet detailed study, Rev. Timothy Garner Conkling PhD., a veteran missionary and pastor to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the US examines the similarities and differences that practitioners of Traditional Chinese religions and Christian believers encounter as they seek to appease, manipulate, worship and engage the inhabitants of the Unseen Realm. This book is a must-read for those who want to understand the differences in world view and religious practice that exist between Christians and those who follow Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or indigenous Chinese traditional religions. It also offers important insights into which practices Traditional Chinese religious believers would have to stop or change if they become Christians. Engaging the Spirits outlines the inhabitants of the Unseen Realm for both religions and details the representative practices of Chinese ancestor worship, divination, spirit-possession and exorcism in comparison with Christian spiritual warfare, prayer, and exorcism. 86 pages, English
Author Biography
Rev. Timothy Garner Conkling PhD is a missionary with China Ministries International. He and his wife, Evie, have lived and ministered in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia. Fluent in Mandarin, Dr. Conkling has a passion to inspire others to master Mandarin and understand Chinese culture and traditional religions. Dr. Conkling holds a B.M. and M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, a M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary, two M.A. degrees (Asian Studies and Political Science), along with a PhD in Political Science, all from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Conkling explains the political response of China's house-church Protestants to persecution in his first book, Mobilized Merchants-Patriotic Martyrs: China's House-Church Protestants and the Politics of Cooperative Resistance (2014). In his second book, Stranger in Every Land: Reflections of a Transcultural Adult in a Shrinkling World (2017), Dr. Conkling poignantly captures the experience of those who leave their home country and embrace new cultural challenges and values from the vantage point of one who never fully fits in anywhere but who is at home wherever they are. Dr. and Mrs. Conkling have two children, Allison and Martyn.