The Three Self Church

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B

Bryancampbell

Guest
#1
#1
Three Self churches are the 57,000+ churchesin China that belong to the Chinese Communist Party -controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

The three ‘Self’s are Self-governance, Self-support, Self-propagation, and respectively reject foreigners' influence on the church leadership, foreign financing and foreign missionaries, while “Patriotic” indicates the church's loyalty to China.

The three rejections have kept the divisive Western denominationalism out of China and thus aren't necessarily bad on their own. What is bad is that the Three Self Patriotic Movement tries to restrict, control and twist the Christianity of the Bible.

Consider some of the rules governing the Three Self churches:

• The Communist Party is the head of the church in China (Three Self churches report to the Three
Self Patriotic Movement, which reports to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which is
controlled by the Chinese Communist Party).
• The Communist Party decides how many people can be baptized per year.
• The Communist Party has the final decision on who can preach and what can be preached.
• Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
• Preaching about resurrection and the second coming of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching against religions that deny the deity of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching that atheist communist heroes went to hell is forbidden; good communists go to heaven
• Preaching against abortion is forbidden.
• Gathering to worship outside Three Self churches and official "meeting points" is forbidden.
• Preachers cannot preach at a Three Self church other than the one to which they were assigned.
• Evangelizing or giving out tracts is forbidden.
• Importing Bibles is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Printing Bible is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Government officials cannot be Christian.
• Teachers cannot be Christian.
• Soldiers cannot be Christian.
• Police officers cannot be Christian.
• Children and teenagers cannot be Christian.

Information link >>> THREE SELF CHURCH - China's Three Self Patriotic Church

This is plain out wrong, and against truth. Who else has heard of this?
 
Angela53510

Angela53510

Senior Member
#2
Jan 24, 2011
11,781
2,947
113
#2
I have certainly heard of this. However, most of the millions of Chinese Christians meet in unregistered house churches. This 3Self movement is to try and halt the spread of the gospel. That is why many Christians are in prison for their faith, esp. pastors.

Interesting they were not raptured out of this persecution!
 
B

Bryancampbell

Guest
#3
#3
Angela53510 said:
I have certainly heard of this. However, most of the millions of Chinese Christians meet in unregistered house churches. This 3Self movement is to try and halt the spread of the gospel. That is why many Christians are in prison for their faith, esp. pastors.

Interesting they were not raptured out of this persecution!
Click to expand...
Doesn't houses churches have to be registered? I know they have to have like 13 people or something before they are registered as a affiliation of the three self.
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#4
Nov 24, 2012
30,707
3,650
113
#4
I shudder at the billions we shovel out to China so we can have fun with our electronic toys.
 
phil36

phil36

Senior Member
#5
Feb 12, 2009
8,260
2,111
113
51
#5
Bryancampbell said:
Three Self churches are the 57,000+ churchesin China that belong to the Chinese Communist Party -controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

The three ‘Self’s are Self-governance, Self-support, Self-propagation, and respectively reject foreigners' influence on the church leadership, foreign financing and foreign missionaries, while “Patriotic” indicates the church's loyalty to China.

The three rejections have kept the divisive Western denominationalism out of China and thus aren't necessarily bad on their own. What is bad is that the Three Self Patriotic Movement tries to restrict, control and twist the Christianity of the Bible.

Consider some of the rules governing the Three Self churches:

• The Communist Party is the head of the church in China (Three Self churches report to the Three
Self Patriotic Movement, which reports to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which is
controlled by the Chinese Communist Party).
• The Communist Party decides how many people can be baptized per year.
• The Communist Party has the final decision on who can preach and what can be preached.
• Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
• Preaching about resurrection and the second coming of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching against religions that deny the deity of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching that atheist communist heroes went to hell is forbidden; good communists go to heaven
• Preaching against abortion is forbidden.
• Gathering to worship outside Three Self churches and official "meeting points" is forbidden.
• Preachers cannot preach at a Three Self church other than the one to which they were assigned.
• Evangelizing or giving out tracts is forbidden.
• Importing Bibles is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Printing Bible is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Government officials cannot be Christian.
• Teachers cannot be Christian.
• Soldiers cannot be Christian.
• Police officers cannot be Christian.
• Children and teenagers cannot be Christian.

Information link >>> THREE SELF CHURCH - China's Three Self Patriotic Church

This is plain out wrong, and against truth. Who else has heard of this?
Click to expand...

I'm sure it must be better than those divisive western denominations?
 
K

Kerry

Guest
#6
#6
crossnote said:
I shudder at the billions we shovel out to China so we can have fun with our electronic toys.
Click to expand...

Toys we invented but it's cheaper to manufacture in China and ship it to the U.S.. And shipping cost is outrageous these days.
 
Angela53510

Angela53510

Senior Member
#8
Jan 24, 2011
11,781
2,947
113
#8
Most Christians do NOT want to register, exactly because of the restrictions listed in the OP. It would mean giving up control to the Communist Party, which is atheistic and hostile to the gospel. So they remain underground but sometimes they get exposed and the cells are destroyed. Fortunately, the cells are mostly independent, so that leaves 10's of thousands more to keep on spreading the message of God's love.

I know a man from Seminary who was a member of the Communist Party in China. God sovereignly saved him, and he came to North America, and left his Ph.D program in engineering to work on his Master's degree to learn how to teach and preach the gospel to other Chinese. Amazing what God can do!

And so the revival continues in China, while North Americans continue to argue over theories of eschatology and how to get rich! So sad and so trivial, so much of the church in the western world!
 
B

Bryancampbell

Guest
#9
#9
Angela53510 said:
Most Christians do NOT want to register, exactly because of the restrictions listed in the OP. It would mean giving up control to the Communist Party, which is atheistic and hostile to the gospel. So they remain underground but sometimes they get exposed and the cells are destroyed. Fortunately, the cells are mostly independent, so that leaves 10's of thousands more to keep on spreading the message of God's love.

I know a man from Seminary who was a member of the Communist Party in China. God sovereignly saved him, and he came to North America, and left his Ph.D program in engineering to work on his Master's degree to learn how to teach and preach the gospel to other Chinese. Amazing what God can do!

And so the revival continues in China, while North Americans continue to argue over theories of eschatology and how to get rich! So sad and so trivial, so much of the church in the western world!
Click to expand...
That's amazing what God can do! What is he up to now, is he still preaching do you know? And I understand what you mean, people get caught up with money, it seems like who is really being fed. I once talked to a man who directly gave people food before, because he knew missions and them wouldn't provide as much to the homeless and such........
 
D

directline2iam

Banned
#10
Jul 25, 2013
1,329
19
0
#10
Bryancampbell said:
Three Self churches are the 57,000+ churchesin China that belong to the Chinese Communist Party -controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

The three ‘Self’s are Self-governance, Self-support, Self-propagation, and respectively reject foreigners' influence on the church leadership, foreign financing and foreign missionaries, while “Patriotic” indicates the church's loyalty to China.

The three rejections have kept the divisive Western denominationalism out of China and thus aren't necessarily bad on their own. What is bad is that the Three Self Patriotic Movement tries to restrict, control and twist the Christianity of the Bible.

Consider some of the rules governing the Three Self churches:

• The Communist Party is the head of the church in China (Three Self churches report to the Three
Self Patriotic Movement, which reports to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which is
controlled by the Chinese Communist Party).
• The Communist Party decides how many people can be baptized per year.
• The Communist Party has the final decision on who can preach and what can be preached.
• Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
• Preaching about resurrection and the second coming of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching against religions that deny the deity of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching that atheist communist heroes went to hell is forbidden; good communists go to heaven
• Preaching against abortion is forbidden.
• Gathering to worship outside Three Self churches and official "meeting points" is forbidden.
• Preachers cannot preach at a Three Self church other than the one to which they were assigned.
• Evangelizing or giving out tracts is forbidden.
• Importing Bibles is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Printing Bible is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Government officials cannot be Christian.
• Teachers cannot be Christian.
• Soldiers cannot be Christian.
• Police officers cannot be Christian.
• Children and teenagers cannot be Christian.

Information link >>> THREE SELF CHURCH - China's Three Self Patriotic Church

This is plain out wrong, and against truth. Who else has heard of this?
Click to expand...
Ya it's true my cousin taught english over there for a year and he wasn't allowed to evangelize however, being an under cover christian, and under their rules the commies, anyone is allowed to ask him questions about God and my cousin is allowed to answer. He came back with his wife and kids and his brother (who went over their also for more christian moral support I guess) all in one piece so....
 
N

NiceneCreed

Guest
#11
#11
Bryancampbell said:
Doesn't houses churches have to be registered? I know they have to have like 13 people or something before they are registered as a affiliation of the three self.
Click to expand...

Last year, there was a Chinese pastor who visited my church, and he had been imprisoned for seven years for the crime of mass-producing Bibles. It was not until our previous president spoke with Chinese government officials to request he be pardoned that he was ultimately released. Unfortunately, I do not recall the Chinese pastor's name, but I do remember him saying no one really knows the number of Christians living in China not affiliated with the three-self church. One thing I know for sure, there are many Christians who are imprisoned for offenses ranging from preaching the Gospel and reading from Bibles outside of church, just to name a few.
 
N

NiceneCreed

Guest
#12
#12
Angela53510 said:
Most Christians do NOT want to register, exactly because of the restrictions listed in the OP. It would mean giving up control to the Communist Party, which is atheistic and hostile to the gospel. So they remain underground but sometimes they get exposed and the cells are destroyed. Fortunately, the cells are mostly independent, so that leaves 10's of thousands more to keep on spreading the message of God's love.

I know a man from Seminary who was a member of the Communist Party in China. God sovereignly saved him, and he came to North America, and left his Ph.D program in engineering to work on his Master's degree to learn how to teach and preach the gospel to other Chinese. Amazing what God can do!

And so the revival continues in China, while North Americans continue to argue over theories of eschatology and how to get rich! So sad and so trivial, so much of the church in the western world!
Click to expand...

Given the size of the population in China, I would not be surprised to learn there are millions of underground Christians not affiliated with the three-self church; God willing!
 
K

Kerry

Guest
#13
#13
Any church that has self in it's name, I would run the other way!!!!!!.
 
R

Red_Skull

Guest
#14
#14
This is similar to the attempt by the Greater German Empire to reform and replace Catholicism and Protestantism with Positive Christianity.
 
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