Eastern Lightning (simplified Chinese: ????; traditional Chinese: ????; pinyin: Dongfang Shandià n), which prefers to use the name The Church of Almighty God, is a new religious movement established in China in 1991.
Government sources estimate the group has three to four million members.The group's core tenet is that Jesus Christ has returned to earth and is presently living as a Chinese woman.
The name "Eastern Lightning" alludes to the Gospel of Matthew: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."The movement has been described by Chinese media as the nation's 'most dangerous cult', and the group has been formally banned in China since 1995.
Christian opponents and international media have in turn described it as a cult and even as a "terrorist organization." In contrast, members of the group deny all accusations and argue they are victims of religious persecution at the hands of Chinese authorities.