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John Sung 20th Century’s Greatest Preacher?
宋尚节，二十世纪最伟大的布道者？Click for Chinese/中文
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John Sung (Song Shangjie 宋尚节, 1901-1944) born in Putian, Fujian, (莆田笏石镇刘厝坑北村人) was one of a Methodist minister’s 11 children, and earned the nickname “Little Pastor” when at age 13 he began standing in for his father (even preaching for him!).

A brilliant scholar , John completed his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in only 5 years, even while working to support himself. He studied at Ohio State University and Ohio Wesleyan University. I've read that one can still see his research reports and chemistry essays at Ohio Statue University's library.

But John's faith foundered when he attended New York City’s Union Theological Seminary, which he called a “theological cemetery.”

After learning that God was dead and Christ had not risen, John turned to Buddhism, Taoism, and the Koran, but became depressed rather than enlightened.
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He was on the verge of suicide when, on the evening of Feb. 10, 1927, he had a vision of Christ, who forgave him and changed his name to John (as in John the Baptist). John straight away told his favorite teacher, the famous Harry Emerson Fosdick, “You are of the devil! You made me lose my faith!” The “theological cemetery” promptly committed John to an insane asylum for 193 days.

The fiery youth got a crash course in patience during his incarceration, and claimed later that he read the bible cover to cover 40 times. After release he sailed back to China, and tossed his awards and degrees into the ocean, keeping only his doctorate (for his father’s sake). Like Carstairs and countless others, John Sung burned the candle at both ends.

“Dr. John Sung was probably the greatest preacher of the 20th century. I have heard almost all of the great preachers from 1910 until now, including R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Henry Jowett, and Billy Graham. Yet John Sung surpasseh ends and died young, on Aug. 18, 1944, but not before establishing an unparalleled reputation. William E. Schubert said, d them all in pulpit power, attested by amazing and enduring results.”
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宋尚节，二十世纪最伟大的布道者？

宋尚节（1901——1944）出生于福建莆田（莆田笏石镇刘厝坑北村人）一个循道公会牧师家庭，家里共有11个孩子，他13岁时就代替父亲出席礼拜式，（甚至替他布道！）大家都称他“小牧师”。

他是一个才华横溢的学者，在半工半读中，只花了五年时间就完成学士、硕士和博士学位的攻读。但是在进入纽约市联合神学院后，他的信仰幻灭了，他把这所学校称为“神学墓地”。

他认为上帝已死，基督还未出现，便转而研究起佛教、道教和伊斯兰教，但是这些宗教没能启迪他的灵魂，反而令他倍感沮丧。他一度想要自杀，但就在1927年2月10日的晚上，他目睹了基督显灵，基督宽恕了他，并将他的名字改为约翰（正如施洗者约翰的名字）。宋约翰立即对他最敬爱的老师、赫赫有名的哈里?埃默森?佛斯迪克说：“你是邪恶的！你让我失去了信仰！”于是这座“神学墓地”立即将他送进疯人院，关了193天。

在羁押期间，这个血气方刚的年轻人经受了对耐心的极度考验，据他后来说，他总共通读了四十遍《圣经》。出院后宋约翰坐船回中国，在途中他将奖章证书都抛进大海，只保留了博士学位证书（为了他的父亲）。就像杜嘉德和其他无数人那样，宋约翰透支身体英年早逝，死于1944年8月18日，但他去世前就已享有无人可及的声誉。

威廉舒伯特说过：“宋约翰博士也许是二十世纪最伟大的布道者。从1910年至今，我聆听过几乎所有杰出布道者的宣讲，包括R. A. 托利，比利?桑迪、亨利?祖耶特和比利?格雷汉姆。但是宋约翰在讲坛上的表现力超过了他们所有人，其影响深远，令人惊叹。”