China plans its own 'Christian theology'

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Dec 4, 2012
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China says it may try to create a theology based on Christianity - that integrates the religion with Chinese culture and is compatible with the country's socialist beliefs, it's been reported.

Wang Zuoan, a senior official for religious affairs, says China supports the development of Christianity within the country. But "the construction of Chinese Christian theology should adapt to China's national condition,"the state-backed China Daily website reports. His comments came at a conference for Sinicization of Christianity in Shanghai.
It's thought there are about 23 million to 40 million Protestants in China - 1.7% to 2.9% of the total population - and that each year, about 500,000 people are baptised as Protestants. But China's ruling Communist Party is officially atheistic and relations with the church have sometimes been strained. People are only supposed to worship in places approved by the government, but many underground churches operate in China too.
In Wenzhou - sometimes called China's Jerusalem, where more than one in 10 people are Protestant - state authorities are cracking down on what they say are illegal church buildings, taking away or threatening to remove crosses at more than 130 Protestant churches and demolishing some entirely, the Taipei Times says. It cites experts and church leaders saying they believe the authorities are alarmed by the quick growth of Protestantism in the area, and are trying to suppress it.

BBC - Homepage
 
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wwjd_kilden

Guest
#2
I thought they'd done this years ago?
 
Dec 12, 2013
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#4
Another pseudo religion that will take the converts to a communist hell HAH!
 
A

AgeofKnowledge

Guest
#7
Marxist governments have been oppressing, persecuting, and even murdering genuine Christians from their inception though thankfully, except for China, almost all collapsed upon themselves by the end of the 20th century.

A favorite tactic they've all used is to infiltrate churches and, with the information they gather, imprison and persecute believers. Another tactic is to seek control of existing churches and use them like sock puppets to both control the populace and as an extension of their propaganda departments. The Soviets were masters of this tactic and only until recently was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church anything other than a KGB agent.

So now the Chinese state has decided on a new strategy: they're going to diabolically try to redesign Christianity into their image as a new state "religion" which they completely control and persecute all genuine Christians that refuse to go along with their apostate totalitarian façade.

For their first Bible lesson, I suggest they turn to Exodus 3:14-15 and listen to what God said to Moses:

“I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

God is NOT going to change who and what He is to accommodate atheistic Marxist communist leaders that want totalitarian control of His church (to the extent they are going to form an apostate counterfeit) and neither are genuine Christians who have endured and prevailed over more than two millennia of such attempts both within and without.

From antiquity in which pagan states sought to destroy the church but found themselves instead converted through the 20th century which is a modern case study in the perseverance of the saints over state atheism and contemporary totalitarianistic regimes, I think Beza said it best in his reply to the king of Navarre's inquiry as how to best destroy the church in his land when he stated, "it is in truth the lot of the Church of God, in whose name I am speaking, to endure blows, and not to strike them. But also may it please you to remember that it is an anvil that has worn out many hammers."

God's genuine church in China has existed since the eight century and has continued to grow despite periods of severe persecution and manifold counterfeits and this, my beloved, will continue until His blessed return.
 

skipp

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2014
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#8
This is awful but one positive is that it shows just how popular Christianity is in a China. It's starting to scare the leaders.
 

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
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#9
So while we are fighting the cultural war, I think we should realize that there are 2 basic choices for the USA:

1) have an ungodly humanist government hostile to Christianity,

2) have a pretend Christianish government and society in which the fake Christian church members believe they don't need to be saved because they are Christians.

Which is better?

Religiously speaking, how is Russia better off?

1) Under Communism with atheism official and Christianity persecuted.

2) Under the Russian Orthodox "Church" with strong mariolatry where they are the official church and dissenters are persecuted?

Are you ready to see Chinese communism overthrown & the Holy Chinese Church instituted?

Should we really be that concerned about which form of non-Christian government we have? In reality there will be no genuine Christian govt or culture until Christ returns, though it is possible to have a pseudo-Christian culture with babies sprinkled into the organization or rounded up at Easter & dunked in.

Or should we mostly just be busy with evangelism, knowing that only a small minority will ever trust Christ as Savior (many are called, but few chosen)?
 

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
48
#10
This is awful but one positive is that it shows just how popular Christianity is in a China. It's starting to scare the leaders.
I would not be surprised to see (while the USA is officially pagan), the Chinese having Christianity flourish as it did in the USA. They may send us missionaries.
 

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
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#11
It's thought there are about 23 million to 40 million Protestants in China - 1.7% to 2.9% of the total population - and that each year, about 500,000 people are baptised as Protestants.. . . the authorities are alarmed by the quick growth of Protestantism in the area, and are trying to suppress it.
My guess is that such statements & stats are based on the misconception that if one is not a papist (or an adherent of the Eastern Orthodox "Church"), one is a "protestant." It may never dawn on most of the media that there are many Bible-believing Christians who do not trace their heritage to any movement that emerged out of the papal organization. I doubt that the multitude of Christians who meet in homes trace themselves back to protestantism.
 
A

AgeofKnowledge

Guest
#12
Obviously choice number three is better. That would be the item you omitted... lol. We're ready to see the Chinese government both cease persecution of Christians and also forgo fabricating a counterfeit state church.

As for Russia, you need to understand that a great exodus of genuine Christian left Russia as the Bolsheviks took political power. However, a large number of them did stay and endured oppression and persecution both within and without the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) throughout the Communist experiment.

It's true the ROC itself is compromised by the government but nevertheless has a much more favorable theology than that of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) because ROC leadership at the time of the Protestant reformation were quite open to and very much influenced by, to a far greater degree than the RCC, the Protestant reformation.

Of course, it is unfortunate that the iron curtain is slowly being drawn back down and persecution madness beginning to take hold again. This was predicted by a large number of Christian leaders from men like David Wilkerson who wrote this would happen after the collapse of the Soviet Union as far back as the late 1970s in publications like 'The Vision' which is actually kind of amazing when you stop to think about it.

And yes, obviously Christians should be concerned about governments for all the right reasons. One need not choose between evangelism and exercising biblical responsibility with respect to government. The correct choice is C... both the above.


So while we are fighting the cultural war, I think we should realize that there are 2 basic choices for the USA:

1) have an ungodly humanist government hostile to Christianity,

2) have a pretend Christianish government and society in which the fake Christian church members believe they don't need to be saved because they are Christians.

Which is better?

Religiously speaking, how is Russia better off?

1) Under Communism with atheism official and Christianity persecuted.

2) Under the Russian Orthodox "Church" with strong mariolatry where they are the official church and dissenters are persecuted?

Are you ready to see Chinese communism overthrown & the Holy Chinese Church instituted?

Should we really be that concerned about which form of non-Christian government we have? In reality there will be no genuine Christian govt or culture until Christ returns, though it is possible to have a pseudo-Christian culture with babies sprinkled into the organization or rounded up at Easter & dunked in.

Or should we mostly just be busy with evangelism, knowing that only a small minority will ever trust Christ as Savior (many are called, but few chosen)?
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
113
#13
Hegelian synthesis strikes again.