Chen Tao (God's Salvation Church)

Chen Tao (真道)
Formation	1993 Pei-pu, Hsin-chu, Taiwan
Successor	Grand True Way
Teacher	Hon-Ming Chen
Spokesperson	Richard Liu

Chen Tao (Chinese: 真道, Zhēndào, "True Way"; also known as the Soul Light Research Association, God's Salvation Church, and God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation) was a Taiwanese millennialist group, formed in 1993 by Hon-Ming Chen (reputedly as an off-shoot of an earlier religious group, also called Chen Tao, led by Yu-Hsia Chen). The group was noted for their widely-publicised prophecy that God would possess the body of Chen at Garland, Texas on 31 March 1998,^[BBC] in advance of the final judgement, when members would be taken to Mars aboard flying saucers.

Following the failure of the March 1998 prophecy, the majority of the group's membership returned to Taiwan; however, some remaining members relocated to Buffalo, New York, prophesying a nuclear war sparked by the Chinese invasion of Taiwan in early 1999, following which God would appear in his Godplane to save the believers.^[NYT] When these events also failed to materialise, Chen was rejected by the membership, some of whom left to form the Grand True Way in 2002.

Selected Publications

• Chen, Hon-Ming (1996), Practical Evidence and Study of the World of God and Buddha 
• Chen, Hon-Ming (1997), Gods Descending in Clouds (Flying Saucers) on Earth to Save People, Garland, Texas: God's Salvation Church 

Reading

• Wright, Stuart A.; Griel, Arthur L. (2011), "The Case of Chen Tao", How Prophecy Lives, BRILL, p. 158-171 

Press Coverage

• BBC (24 Dec. 1997), Saucer cult prepares for God's arrival, news.bbc.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/42267.stm, "Cult members say God will take over Hon Ming Chen's body, allowing him to clone himself and walk through walls." 
• Heard, Alex; Klebnikov, Peter (27 Dec. 1998), "Apocalypse Now. No, Really. Now!", New York Times Magazine (nytimes.com), http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/27/magazine/apocalypse-now-no-really-now.html