"Father William, have you heard of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Hong Xiuquan?" Tang Ning asked rhetorically without answering.

"Hong Xiuquan? Is that blasphemous madman? Father William replied with a displeased expression.

Downing was not surprised by Father William's reaction, because for a devout Christian believer, Hong Xiuquan's actions were indeed a blasphemer, so he hurriedly explained: "Father William, don't get me wrong, I'm not the believer of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, I just want to say why he, an impostor, blasphemer, can attract tens of millions of believers in China, and almost conquer half of China's territory, while no one wants to believe that a priest like you really comes to spread the glory of the Lord, Have you ever wondered why? ”

Asked by Downing, Father William suddenly realized the problem inside, yes, I thought that there was no missionary foundation here in China, but now it seems that this is not the case, so what is the problem?

Looking at Father William's puzzled look, Downing continued: "Actually, the problem is very simple, that is, because Hong Xiuquan has reformed the doctrine of Christianity into something that the Chinese people can understand, accept, and finally firmly believe. Of course, I don't want you to learn from him in changing his doctrine so messily, but I hope that you can refer to some of his practices and explain to them the teachings of the Bible that the Chinese people do not understand in a way that they can understand. For example, if you say the Virgin Mary, they will not understand, but if you say that this is the Queen Mother of a foreign country, they will understand it immediately. ”

Father William pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Well, what you said is indeed reasonable, when I explained the stories in the Bible to them before, I found that they all did not understand, if you follow your method, I believe they will be much easier to accept." ”

Speaking of this, his words changed sharply, and he frowned again and said: "But I don't know much about Chinese culture, so it's difficult to make such a simple and accurate analogy." ”

When Tang Ning heard that he finally got to the point, he immediately patted his chest and said, "You don't understand, I understand, I can help you in this regard!" ”

Hearing Tang Ning say this, Father William grabbed Tang Ning excitedly and said, "Mr. Kong, you, are you willing to help me?" Oh! You are simply an angel sent by God! ”

Tang Ning hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Father William, don't get me wrong, although I am willing to help you, I am not an angel. Actually, I wanted to get a job with you, I would help you explain the doctrine of the Bible, and I could also help you with the day-to-day affairs of the church, but you would have to pay me a salary. ”

"Oh, that's right." Hearing Downing say this, although Father William was a little disappointed, he was not unhappy, because in the church, not everyone is a full-time clergyman, such as logistics and other work needs to be done by external personnel, and even if it is a full-time clergyman, there is also a subsidy, because although the church has food and accommodation, the clergy always have to go out to buy some daily necessities, which also needs money, but the subsidy is not so much.

So after careful consideration for a while, Father William nodded and said, "Mr. Kong, I can hire you as a deacon of this church, but I will examine you for two days to see if there are any omissions in the doctrine you have explained. ”

Downing was very acceptable to Father William's approach, after all, even if the company recruited, there must be a probationary period, so he agreed: "Oh, this is no problem. I also have two suggestions. The first is to continue to refer to Hong Xiuquan's practice, he originally relied on treating the poor to spread the teachings, I wonder if you know how to heal? ”

Father William replied with some embarrassment: "I am not proficient in medical skills, and it is difficult to buy the medicine I need here, and the medicines you Chinese use are really strange." ”

"This Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Chinese medicine and Western medicine are completely two systems, and it is normal for you to not adapt to it. Since it is not possible to see a doctor, let's change the way of thinking, we can give the audience some small gifts such as candy or something after each sermon at the beginning of the mission, which can also attract more people to listen to the lecture, although there will inevitably be people with impure motives here, but even if only one or two people can be interested in the doctrine at a time, it is worth it, and over time, there will naturally be more and more believers. ”

"Well, you're doing a good job, so I'll leave it to you to buy these little gifts. After all, I'm a foreigner who doesn't know what kind of things can arouse the interest of the audience. ”

"Don't worry, you can leave this matter to me, and it will cost you less money to ensure that it can produce results." Downing hurriedly assured that buying was a lucrative job, perhaps even more than the church's salary.

Just when Downing YY, Godfather William suddenly asked, "By the way, what is your second suggestion?" ”

"Oh, and the second piece of advice is that we're going to do both. Preaching through preaching is the most orthodox method, but it is slow to produce results, and there is a quick way, but you will have to do it yourself, Father William. Tang Ning said a little mysteriously.

"Oh? And a quick fix? Father William asked curiously.

Yes, if preaching is bottom-up, then the method is top-down. Do you think that if you can get the magistrate to be religious, wouldn't it be easier for him to help you preach? Tang Ning patiently explained.

Father William nodded and agreed: "Yes, yes, when a few of my friends were missionaries in India, they first persuaded the princely states there, and then they proselytized from the top down. Kong, do you mean to let me convince Mr. Zhixian? ”

Tang Ning waved his hand again and again: "No, no, if the magistrate is open to religion and preaching, then his magistrate will not be able to do it." But in our town of Lu, there is one person whose energy is definitely not below the county magistrate, and if you can get him to become religious, you will definitely make your missionary work twice as effective with half the effort! ”

"Oh? Who is this person? I'm going to do his job myself. Father William asked excitedly.

"This person is Ding Juren!" Tang Ning replied word by word.

PS: I have already written the second copy of this book "Peacock Flying Southeast", and I have accumulated nearly thirty chapters, so please rest assured to catch up.