Christianity finds a fulcrum in Asia

Ray

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Christianity finds a fulcrum in Asia
By Spengler

Ten thousand Chinese become Christians each day, according to a stunning report by the National Catholic Reporter's veteran correspondent John Allen, and 200 million Chinese may comprise the world's largest concentration of Christians by mid-century, and the largest missionary force in history. [1] If you read a single news article about China this year, make sure it is this one.

I suspect that even the most enthusiastic accounts err on the downside, and that Christianity will have become a Sino-centric religion two generations from now.

China may be for the 21st century what Europe was during the 8th-11th centuries, and America has been during the past 200 years: the natural ground for mass evangelization. If this occurs, the world will change beyond our capacity to recognize it. Islam might defeat the western Europeans, simply by replacing their diminishing numbers with immigrants, but it will crumble beneath the challenge from the East.

China, devoured by hunger so many times in its history, now feels a spiritual hunger beneath the neon exterior of its suddenly great cities. Four hundred million Chinese on the prosperous coast have moved from poverty to affluence in a single generation, and 10 million to 15 million new migrants come from the countryside each year, the greatest movement of people in history. Despite a government stance that hovers somewhere between discouragement and persecution, more than 100 million of them have embraced a faith that regards this life as mere preparation for the next world. Given the immense effort the Chinese have devoted to achieving a tolerable life in the present world, this may seem anomalous. On the contrary: it is the great migration of peoples that prepares the ground for Christianity, just as it did during the barbarian invasions of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Last month's murder of reverend Bae Hyung-kyu, the leader of the missionaries still held hostage by Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan, drew world attention to the work of South Korean Christians, who make up nearly 30% of that nation's population and send more evangelists to the world than any country except the United States. This is only a first tremor of the earthquake to come, as Chinese Christians turn their attention outward. Years ago I speculated that if Mecca ever is razed, it will be by an African army marching north; now the greatest danger to Islam is the prospect of a Chinese army marching west.

People do not live in a spiritual vacuum; where a spiritual vacuum exists, as in western Europe and the former Soviet Empire, people simply die, or fail to breed. In the traditional world, people see themselves as part of nature, unchangeable and constant, and worship their surroundings, their ancestors and themselves. When war or economics tear people away from their roots in traditional life, what once appeared constant now is shown to be ephemeral. Christianity is the great liquidator of traditional society, calling individuals out of their tribes and nations to join the ekklesia, which transcends race and nation. In China, communism leveled traditional society, and erased the great Confucian idea of society as an extension of the loyalties and responsibility of families. Children informing on their parents during the Cultural Revolution put paid to that.

Now the great migrations throw into the urban melting pot a half-dozen language groups who once lived isolated from one another. Not for more than a thousand years have so many people in the same place had such good reason to view as ephemeral all that they long considered to be fixed, and to ask themselves: "What is the purpose of my life?"

The World Christian Database offers by far the largest estimate of the number of Chinese Christians at 111 million, of whom 90% are Protestant, mostly Pentecostals. Other estimates are considerably lower, but no matter; what counts is the growth rate. This uniquely American denomination, which claims the inspiration to speak in tongues like Jesus' own disciples and to prophesy, is the world's fastest-growing religious movement. In contrast to Catholicism, which has a very long historic presence in China but whose growth has been slow, charismatic Protestantism has found its natural element in an atmosphere of official suppression. Barred from churches, Chinese began worshipping in homes, and five major "house church" movements and countless smaller ones now minister to as many as 100 million Christians. [2] This quasi-underground movement may now exceed in adherents the 75 million members of the Chinese Communist Party; in a generation it will be the most powerful force in the country.

While the Catholic Church has worked patiently for independence from the Chinese government, which sponsors a "Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association" with government-appointed bishops, the evangelicals have no infrastructure to suppress and no hierarchy to protect. In contrast to Catholic caution, John Allen observes, "Most Pentecostals would obviously welcome being arrested less frequently, but in general they are not waiting for legal or political reform before carrying out aggressive evangelization programs."

Allen adds:

The most audacious even dream of carrying the gospel beyond the borders of China, along the old Silk Road into the Muslim world, in a campaign known as "Back to Jerusalem". As [Time correspondent David] Aikman explains in Jesus in Beijing, some Chinese evangelicals and Pentecostals believe that the basic movement of the gospel for the last 2,000 years has been westward: from Jerusalem to Antioch, from Antioch to Europe, from Europe to America, and from America to China. Now, they believe, it's their turn to complete the loop by carrying the gospel to Muslim lands, eventually arriving in Jerusalem. Once that happens, they believe, the gospel will have been preached to the entire world.

Aikman reports that two Protestant seminaries secretly are training missionaries for deployment in Muslim countries.

Where traditional society remains entrenched in China's most backward regions, Islam also is expanding. At the edge of the Gobi Desert and on China's western border with Central Asia, Islam claims perhaps 30 million adherents. If Christianity is the liquidator of traditional society, I have argued in the past, Islam is its defender against the encroachments of leveling imperial expansion. But Islam in China remains the religion of the economic losers, whose geographic remoteness isolates them from the economic transformation on the coasts. Christianity, by contrast, has burgeoned among the new middle class in China's cities, where the greatest wealth and productivity are concentrated. Islam has a thousand-year presence in China and has grown by natural increase rather than conversion; evangelical Protestantism had almost no adherents in China a generation ago.

China's Protestants evangelized at the risk of liberty and sometimes life, and possess a sort of fervor not seen in Christian ranks for centuries. Their pastors have been beaten and jailed, and they have had to create their own institutions through the "house church" movement. Two years ago I warned that China would have to wait for democracy. [3] I wrote:

For a people to govern itself, it first must want to govern itself and want to do so with a passion. It also must know how to do so. Democracy requires an act of faith, or rather a whole set of acts of faith. The individual citizen must believe that a representative sitting far away in the capital will listen to his views, and know how to band together with other citizens to make their views known. That is why so-called civil society, the capillary network of associations that manage the ordinary affairs of life, is so essential to democracy. Americans elect their local school boards, create volunteer fire brigades and raise and spend tax dollars at the local level to provide parks or sewers.

China's network of house churches may turn out to be the leaven of democracy, like the radical Puritans of England who became the Congregationalists of New England. Freedom of worship is the first precondition for democracy, for it makes possible freedom of conscience. The fearless evangelists at the grassroots of China will, in the fullness of time, do more to bring US-style democracy to the world than all the nation-building bluster of President George W Bush and his advisers.

Notes
1. The uphill journey of Catholicism in China, August 2, 2007, National Catholic Reporter.
2. See Luke Wesley, "Is the Chinese Church predominantly Pentecostal?" in American Journal of Pentecostal Studies 7:2 (2004).
3. China must wait for democracy, Asia Times Online, September 27, 2005.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IH07Ad03.html
If indeed this is true, China will be the largest Christian nation.

Possibly the Chinese feel that Christianity is alien to China and is a 'foreign' religion and so while the Chinese Govt is benign to Chinese Buddhism ( as different from Tibetan Buddhism) and other indigenous religions and philosophy, it is very chary about 'foreign' religions and their influence to cause disruption to the Han culture that has been nurtured and spread over centuries of their history.

It is this Han culture that has given a single identity to China and which is today a force to reckon with, no matter what was the identity of the people, who inhabit China today.

That is the reason why China is very sensitive to foreign religions since their background is totally different to that of China and they are subservient to foreign religious centres of power, which can work to destabilise China and stop the progress China has made so far and still counting.

That is the reason why China has gone hammer and tongs in preventing these religions, be it Christianity or Islam, to take an independent line as per their religious belief and instead ensures that the message of these religions is controlled by the Centre that is in conformity to Chinese aspirations and preservation of Han culture.

Will 'foreign' religions be able to take a hold of China?

What must China do to ensure that only indigenous religions that have connection with Han culture flourish and stop the galloping spread of 'foreign' religions that will gnaw the innards of China and may even wipe out the Han culture that has been cultivate assiduously through the ages?

Will China's attempt to contain the 'foreign' religions give rise to greater outrage from the West of 'human rights' violations?
 

p2prada

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I am expecting the decline of religion as a whole by then. 2 Generations is a lot of time.:)
 

Ray

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I wonder what our Chinese posters have to say on this issue.

There is indeed a concern that foreign religions may upset the general manner of thinking amongst the Chinese and may cause destabilisation.
 

plugwater

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I am expecting the decline of religion as a whole by then. 2 Generations is a lot of time.:)
Decline of Christianity will come a lot sooner. But i do not have much hope on Islam and Hinduism.
 

Phenom

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The decline of Chinese culture is a sad thing, it has been one of the pillars of Asian culture.

The Communist government is making the situation worse by banning local religious groups like Falun Gong, who could have countered foreign missionaries.
 

Ray

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I too thought religion will die a natural death, till I saw the Born Agains of Islam and Christianity after 9/11, which gave the impression that religion and its adherents are not dead.

Now, if the Chinese convert to Christianity at the rate of 10,000 a day, then Christianity will march well ahead of Islam, in so far as numbers go!

It is interesting to note that the Pentacostal Mission was was founded in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1923 by a Hindu convert, Ramankutty - later known as Pastor Pa

The problem in China is that they are very sensitive about 'foreign influence' to the way of their lives and they believed that the Falun Gong, was nothing but a CIA front movement!!

Notwithstanding, I am sceptical about the numbers claimed to be converting!
 

p2prada

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Decline of Christianity will come a lot sooner. But i do not have much hope on Islam and Hinduism.
My friend asked me the reason for why I am atheist last Friday. I asked him, "You are a Christian, aren't you?" He replied with a yes. Then I asked him, "Do you believe in Noah's Ark?"

He started laughing. Then I said, "That's why."
 

plugwater

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My friend asked me the reason for why I am atheist last Friday. I asked him, "You are a Christian, aren't you?" He replied with a yes. Then I asked him, "Do you believe in Noah's Ark?"

He started laughing. Then I said, "That's why."
ROFL! Its nothing compared to some insane things in religions :D

Lets not derail the topic :)
 

Godless-Kafir

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I am really more terrified of Christian Evangelists than Muslim fundamentalists! The former can destroy the society from with in while the other atleast hits you from the outside.
 

p2prada

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I too thought religion will die a natural death, till I saw the Born Agains of Islam and Christianity after 9/11, which gave the impression that religion and its adherents are not dead.
It is the next generation which will bring about the change. Other than that the US is highly religious. Atheists in India aren't treated anyway different than a person from a different religion or sect. But atheists in America are publicly discriminated.

Atheism is actually growing faster than theism anywhere in the world and that adds to their worries. After all, atheists aren't particularly bothered about burning books or puppets, subjugation of races or pillaging works of art.

However, China will probably beat us with sheer numbers. :p

I am also inclined to believe the numbers are being faked. Perhaps contributions from Vatican are a main factor. I don't see a reason why CCP will try to stop the influx of massive amount of Christian funds from Europe and will perhaps even allow faking numbers for the same reason.

The Chinese have accepted westernization without any problems in cities. Maybe the CCP sees Christianity as a more controllable religion than Islam or Buddhism.
 

p2prada

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ROFL! Its nothing compared to some insane things in religions :D

Lets not derail the topic :)
Haha! Yeah. Anyway I did not know this topic will be a subject of greater debate. Thought I could shoot and scoot.
 

Ray

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aha, but I am standing in the wings! ;)
 

Armand2REP

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If indeed this is true, China will be the largest Christian nation.
It already is as far as active church goers.

That is the reason why China is very sensitive to foreign religions since their background is totally different to that of China and they are subservient to foreign religious centres of power, which can work to destabilise China and stop the progress China has made so far and still counting.
CCP saw the Christian tidal wave coming years ago which is why they actually sponsor 20 million Christians in state sanctioned churches. It is the only way they can hope to control it from conflicting with communist doctrine. With 120 million adherents... it is too little too late to stop. All they can do is roll with it the best they can.

That is the reason why China has gone hammer and tongs in preventing these religions, be it Christianity or Islam, to take an independent line as per their religious belief and instead ensures that the message of these religions is controlled by the Centre that is in conformity to Chinese aspirations and preservation of Han culture.
I sit in a foreigner service on Sunday in a state sanctioned church. It really isn't that different from a normal mass except politics is forbidden, most universal societal problems are fair game but some of the ones peculiar to China you don't talk about. I also go to a house church bible study with English speaking students during the week, we talk about anything and everything. In the couple months I have been going our group has expanded by seven regular attendees.

Will 'foreign' religions be able to take a hold of China?
Christianity already has The Dragon by the tail. It is too late to stop the wild fire.

What must China do to ensure that only indigenous religions that have connection with Han culture flourish and stop the galloping spread of 'foreign' religions that will gnaw the innards of China and may even wipe out the Han culture that has been cultivate assiduously through the ages?
Actually, CCP is using the China Christian Council (CCC) to do much of their social service work. If there is some disaster, the CCC is first on the scene. CCP don't like Islam very much, so they send CCC to Xinjiang for missionary work, set up new churches and fund it out of public monies as well as rich urban donors. CCP has been sold by missionaries that Christianity brings a "harmonious society" with it and that the social work can help cut cost to the state by charity. The influential report was circulated around the Politburo that studied how America and Europe become top of the world in their ages and it was Christianity that brought wealth. This lead to CCP supporting religion, mostly Christianity but Buddhism, Taoism as well.

Will China's attempt to contain the 'foreign' religions give rise to greater outrage from the West of 'human rights' violations?
The persecution going on with Chinese Christians originates from the house churches that make vocal their disagreement with state policy. If you are like my house church, we talk what we want but we don't start a public debate about it on the street. CCP leaves that alone. There are plenty that are more vocal though.
 

The Messiah

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Decline of Christianity will come a lot sooner. But i do not have much hope on Islam and Hinduism.
Higher rate of education will do the trick. Any sane person well educated and with open mind will obviously not behave like maniacs. Even those who remain religious will see the motive behind religious laws rather than take them literally.

It is only inevitable.
 

amoy

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Chinese convert to Christianity at the rate of 10,000 a day / 200 million Chinese may comprise the world's largest concentration of Christians
Frankly these estimates seem quite a bluffing. But it's really worth some good academic studies why many East Asians (CJK) readily embrace Christianity. Religion played a role in the contemporary politics. Dr Sun Yat-Sen, and later Chiang Kai-shek and 4-families who once dominated ROC were Christians (or at least they claimed to be). Islam seems on the rise too, visibly. I saw an Uygur vendor rolled out a carpet on a sidewalk and got on his knees praying. In a Moslem restaurant the boss was recitng Quran with an embroidery of Kaaba on a wall. Such things were impossible in the days when CCP held a tight grip of ideology. The rise of that "home-grown" "neo"-religion FLG has to be seen through a prism of profound social transition too.
 
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Ray

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Religion does create a lot of social problems that leads to serious law and order problems and problems for good governance.

To that extent China has been relatively free from religious tensions except in Tibet and Xinjiang.

While China is more liberal than before on religions being practised, apparently China is worried over 'foreign' religions like Christianity and Islam, while relatively less concerned with indigenous religions.

There is good reasons for controlling foreign religions. The Chinese Govt is very sensitive to rapid social changes, which foreign influences can engineer, and bring instability and skew the progress China is making because of its 'regulated' State controlled system of national functioning. They are comfortable with the Han culture that has held them in good stead through history. There is always the worry that foreign influences can create problems and dilute the time tested Han culture that nearly all Chinese have accepted as their own identity and way of life.

The Chinese people too are not too enamoured by any changes in their current form of lifestyle since it has brought greater economic boon from the earlier days.

Therefore, the control that the Chinese govt displays, may appear draconian to the outside world, but is in actuality good for China, since it removes the danger of religious unrest that the remainder of the world faces and as they face in Tibet and Xinjiang, which is counterproductive to China's tryst with destiny.
 

Razor

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I am really more terrified of Christian Evangelists than Muslim fundamentalists! The former can destroy the society from with in while the other atleast hits you from the outside.
Sorry i am ignorant. Please explain how the former destroys the society from within and also explain how the latter doesn't.

Personally I believe that religion will decline in the coming decades esp Christianity. As Ernesto above said its education, the more educated the people are the less they are concerned about religion and all the BS that comes with it. Islam will be the last on to go because it is spreading among a relatively less educated population.
And I am sure the Chinese even though they accept Christianity will blend it very well with their resident culture.
 

Razor

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Therefore, the control that the Chinese govt displays, may appear draconian to the outside world, but is in actuality good for China, since it removes the danger of religious unrest that the remainder of the world faces and as they face in Tibet and Xinjiang, which is counterproductive to China's tryst with destiny.
I think this statement is correct. The Chinese system works for the Chinese. If this systems fails, China as nation will suffer a lot. Fortunately the Chinese realize this very well.
 

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