Christianityin Present ChinaNowadays, Christianityprevails in Chinaespecially the eastern and central provinces including Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, Hebei, Shanghai and Jiangsu. Its three main sects all have numerous followers. In the country, Christianis usually referred to Protestant, which has been the most popular group.
What Christianity in China is really like?
Unlike the fifteenth century English king however, Christianity is now no longer a centralized belief system under one universal pontiff (or even two). Rather, Protestantism, the overwhelmingly dominant force in Chinese Christianity, is a scattered myriad of independent, nodal leaders.
What is Christianity in China is really like?
Yes, Christianity in China is legal, and yes, churches can meet publicly under the TSPM banner. But this comes with consequences. The TSPM reserves the right to censor and control their churches to the extent they deem necessary and appropriate. Granted, things used to be much worse than they are in 2017.
What is the percentage of Christians in China?
Today, estimates vary widely: The government tallies twenty-nine million Christian adherents, while outside organizations have placed their estimates substantially higher. In 2010, the Pew Research Center calculated sixty-eight million Christians in China, or approximately 5 percent of the country’s population.
Is it difficult to be a Christian in China?
This estimate, however, is much lower than what the WEA reports and doesn’t include Christians in the underground church. Open Doors ranks China at No. 23 on its list of 50 countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian. The nonprofit notes that all churches are perceived as a threat if they become too large, too political, or invite …
Why aren’t house churches underground?
First and foremost, house church leaders aren’t underground because of the extent of governmental meddling, but because of the mere fact of it. By analogy, consider the Boston Tea Party of the American Revolution. Contrary to popular belief, this protest had little to do with rising taxation in the American colonies.
What was the effect of the Tea Act of 1773 on the colonies?
Contrary to popular belief, this protest had little to do with rising taxation in the American colonies. The Tea Act of 1773 actually reduced the tax burden on Americans. The colonists took issue with Britain’s ability to get involved at all, whether or not the effects were favorable. This is the house-church stance.
What are the three selfs?
Third, it’s the Three – Self Patriotic Movement. The “three selfs” are these: self-governed, self-funded, and self-propagated (i.e., indigenous, not foreign, missions activity). See? No movements, no denominations. Every church is to exist under the leadership of the municipal and provincial council, but without outside influence and without forming networks, presbyteries, or other such groups.
Is TSPM a movement?
Breaking down the TSPM moniker is helpful. First, it’s a Movement. But it’s not just a movement; it’s the movement since China is, by and large, afraid of things like networks, coalitions, synods, presbyteries, and denominations. China doesn’t like large, organized groups that can easily stir the masses.
Where is Colin Clark?
Colin Clark is the senior pastor of an international church in Shanghai, China, where he lives with his wife and four daughters.
When were missionaries banned in China?
Treaties in 1860 re-allowed missions, only to have all missionaries expelled by the Communist Party in 1953 and all religious groups banned by Chairman Mao in 1966. By 1979 approved religions were re-allowed, governed by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and the government-run China Christian Council (CCC).
Which movement ruled the Chinese Communist Party?
So there is one movement to rule all movements: the TSPM, ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Second, it’s a Patriotic Movement. It’s hardly accidental that the movement governing Protestant Christian affairs has no religious lingo in its title. Allegiances lie first and foremost with The People’s Republic.
How many Christians are there in China?
China is already estimated to have more Christians (100 million) than members of the Chinese Community Party (86.7 million). Chinese officials believe the Catholic Church helped destroy communism in Poland. Protestantism has been spreading rapidly in China. It gives people a sense of individual power.
What is the Protestantism in China?
Protestantism has been spreading rapidly in China. It gives people a sense of individual power. 1. Christianity came to China in the 7th century AD. Roman Catholicism came in the 13th century and Protestantism in 1807. 2. Most Chinese Emperors banned Christianity — and sentenced proselytizers to death.
What is the Chinese Communist Party now seeing as a serious threat to be suppressed?
9. The Chinese Communist Party now sees Christianity as a serious threat to be suppressed.
Which country must approve all religious organizations and strictly regulate their activities?
5. China’s government must approve all religious organizations and strictly regulates their activities.
Is the number of Christians growing?
Despite current attempts at suppression, the number of Christians is growing.
Is Catholicism based on centralized power?
14. Catholicism is based on centralized power — and hence reminiscent in Chinese eyes of the CCP. 15. The flexibility of Protestantism leaves room for individual interpretation and appeals to younger people.
Why did the mainline churches in America lose interest in mission?
In America, the mainline churches, in which most of the Chinese American churches started, were beginning to lose interest in this home mission field. The conversion rates were minimal amongst the Chinese in America, and the idea of sending converted Chinese Americans back to China for missions was squashed because of Communist China. Also, along with the rest of the nation, the mainline churches embraced an assimilationist racial ideology. The assumption was that less attention and resources needed to be allocated to ethnic mission churches, since these people groups would eventually assimilate anyway.
Why did Chinese Christians start their own churches?
As the Chinese Christians immigrated into America after 1965 , many of them started their own churches because there were too many differences between the pre-1965 Chinese Christians in America and the post-1965 ones. While the older and established Chinese churches in America were filled with Cantonese speakers, the new Chinese Christians immigrating to the U.S. were Mandarin speakers. Additionally, the new immigrants were generally of a higher socio-economic status because the Nationality & Immigration Act of 1965 gave preference to highly-skilled and educated immigrants.
What is conservative Protestant theology?
Conservative Protestant theology became a more suitable contextual theology for these pilgrims. Conservative theology emphasized an other-worldly home and an eternal perspective. It upheld the miraculous, and it proclaimed a strong message of hope and certainty in the future based on a more literal reading of Scripture. The this-worldly hope for a present modern home in China was destroyed, and an other-worldly hope for a future spiritual home in heaven emerged.
What was the shape of Chinese Christianity in Asia?
The shape of Chinese Christianity in China and amongst the Chinese in other parts of Asia was largely conservative and evangelical for a variety of reasons. After all, J. Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission was the largest mission agency in China. Also, the mostly conservative Independent Church Movement thrived after the Communist takeover. These ministries along with such conservative denominations as the Christian & Missionary Alliance and the Southern Baptists even continued to be fruitful amongst the Chinese diasporic populations in Southeast Asia after 1949.
What act lifted the restrictions that were placed on Asian immigration?
3. The U.S. Nationality and Immigration Act of 1965 & Chinese Christianity Abroad. This act lifted the severe restrictions that were placed on Asian immigration. The result was that the Chinese population between 1960 (237k) and 1980 (806k) more than tripled.
When did Neo-Evangelicalism become the dominant religion?
On the other hand, neo-evangelicalism was birthed in the 1940s, and would soon become the predominant expression of American Protestantism.
Was China a nationalism?
Before the 1949 Communist victory in China, Chinese nationalism was strong even amongst the Chinese outside of China. The Chinese abroad still largely viewed the Chinese state as the center of Chinese identity. Sharing the fervor of the Chinese Republican Revolution in 1911, Chinese Christians in America placed their hopes in a new and modern China, and liberal Protestant theology was the best contextual fit for these modernistic hopes. That theology approached Scripture with modern scientific assumptions, embraced skepticism concerning the supernatural elements of Christianity, focused on Jesus’ moral and social teachings, and fostered a more ecumenical spirit.
What does Wing So believe?
Wing So, a radio host who was a longtime pastor at an Evangelical Free Chinese congregation in San Francisco Chinatown, believes that cultural and linguistic differences also keep some Chinese naturalized citizens from voting. Some first-generation immigrants “are very indifferent to politics,” he said.
What percentage of the American electorate is Asian?
This year, 4.7 percent of the American electorate will be ethnically Asian, the highest ever. Asian Americans cannot, however, be considered a monolith. They identify with ethnic groups from more than 20 different countries of origin in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Where do Chinese immigrants come from?
One reason for that statistic may be that most recent Chinese immigrants come from mainland China, unlike previous generations that moved from more democratically inclined Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Is Teng-Henson a Republican?
Her Taiwanese-born parents believe Trump will better stand up to China’s aggression toward Taiwan; another family member is a devoted supporter of QAnon and Trump. Teng-Henson herself was raised Republican but has moved politically left as an adult.
Who is Tina Teng-Henson?
The 2020 race brings out generational gaps within the most undecided Asian American demographic. P astor Tina Teng-Henson, who co-leads a small, primarily Asian American church in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently preached about Jesus’ teachings on family from Luke 8. “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word …
Who is Justin Fung?
Justin Fung, a pastor in a multiethnic church in Washington, DC, was born to naturalized US citizens in Hong Kong and moved to the US as a young adult.
Who is Ken Fong?
Ken Fong, a Baptist pastor for four decades and host of the podcast Asian America, believes such close political alignment to white evangelicals is no coincidence and stems from the long history of Western missionaries in East Asia and the lingering, perhaps unconscious belief in the superiority of Western theology and culture among some Chinese.
What is the most popular religion in China?
Christianity in China. As one of the three most popular religions (together with Islam and Buddhism) in the world, Christianity influences the belief and life of over 30% of the world’s population. First introduced into China in the 7th century, Christianity has existed for a long time in the country, but has not been very influential.
When did Christianity come to China?
History of Development of Christianity in China. In 635, the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Li Shimin (599 – 649) of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), Nestorianism, which was considered as a heresy to Christianity at that time, came to China. Nestorianism once had a strong growth.
How many Christian colleges are there in China?
There would be special activities on major Christian festivals, such as Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day and Halloween. There are 15 Christian theological colleges in the big cities of China. In addition, there are a number of Bible schools and Bible training center in some small cities.
How many followers of Catholicism are there?
The followers of Roman Catholicism reach 6 million. On Sundays, Christians get together in a home or a church to sing songs of praise, read the Bible, hear sermons, share thoughts, reflect on Scripture, pray, and other community activities.
Where did Christianity originate?
Originating in the Middle East, this religion abounded in Europe, and then gradually migrated to Asia, America, Africa, etc. Presently, Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Church and Protestantism are the largest three sects of Christianity. The number of followers of the Christian faith reaches 2.2 billion around the world.