Christianity in China has become an extremely controversial topic. It is not illegal to be a Christian in China, but the Communist government has always tried to control the way that they worship. Due to the increasing popularity of the religion in China, the government is cracking down on Christian missionaries both entering and leaving China. According to South Korean missionary Paul Yoo, the Chinese government began a “quiet forced evacuation” of foreign missionaries in 2012, aiming to rid the country of missionaries by 2017. It is understood that the Chinese General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, seeks to rid the country of foreign influences and nationalize Christian churches to bring them to the control of the state. (4) Christian churches were forced to close down or hand over their establishments to the Chinese government. (5) In 2012, the Chinese Christians shifted their focus from the work of the Christian missionaries to the work of the Chinese Christians themselves to bring people to the religion. (3)
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This video depicts how Christians practice their religion while living in China during the Communist crackdown on Christianity. Some images shown in the video might be a little graphic.
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Due to the crackdown of the government on the Christian churches, removing their crosses from their places of worship and controlling the appointment of priests, many Chinese Christians have turned to underground churches to allow them to practice their faith. Many of these “churches” are in small, cramped apartments with Christians singing and studying their Bibles. Some of these underground church-goers have been jailed several times due to their beliefs. The underground church-goers run the risk of harassment and sometimes even detention from Chinese authorities. (2) To learn more about underground Christian Churches in China, click here.
If Christianity in China continues to grow at the rate it has been over the past several years, China will become the nation with the most Christians in 2030. Professor Fenggang Yang, an expert on religious China, claims "By 2030, China's total Christian population, including Catholics, would exceed 247 million, placing it above Mexico, Brazil and the United States as the largest Christian congregation in the world." More Chinese Christians are believed to attend Sunday services every week than all Christians in Europe. (1)
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This graph shows a good estimation of how many millions of Christians have been worshiping in China since the mid 1900s.
This image on the left shows the distribution of Christians in China, taken from a survey conducted during 2009. |
To learn more about Christianity in China, watch this short documentary on youtube which shows how Christianity and it's underground churches are able to thrive in China. |
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References
(1)Phillips, T. (2014, April 19). China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html
(2)Sudworth, J. (2016, March 26). Why many Christians in China have turned to underground churches. Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35900242
(3)Tze Ming Ng, P. (2012). Chinese Christianity: A 'Global-Local" Perspective. Brill.
(4)Vanderklippe, N. (2014, August 24). China broadens crackdown on foreign missionaries. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/china-broadens-crackdown-on-foreign-missionaries/article20187253/?page=all
(5)Yang, F. (1998). Chinese conversion to evangelical Christianity: The importance of social and cultural contexts. Sociology of Religion, 59(3), 237-257.
Photos used
Cover: CC0 Public Domain by sspiehs3: https://pixabay.com/en/god-religion-cross-christianity-1772560/g
Map of China: From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christianity_in_China_2010s.png
(1)Phillips, T. (2014, April 19). China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html
(2)Sudworth, J. (2016, March 26). Why many Christians in China have turned to underground churches. Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35900242
(3)Tze Ming Ng, P. (2012). Chinese Christianity: A 'Global-Local" Perspective. Brill.
(4)Vanderklippe, N. (2014, August 24). China broadens crackdown on foreign missionaries. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/china-broadens-crackdown-on-foreign-missionaries/article20187253/?page=all
(5)Yang, F. (1998). Chinese conversion to evangelical Christianity: The importance of social and cultural contexts. Sociology of Religion, 59(3), 237-257.
Photos used
Cover: CC0 Public Domain by sspiehs3: https://pixabay.com/en/god-religion-cross-christianity-1772560/g
Map of China: From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christianity_in_China_2010s.png