China Cracks Down on Christianity

[Modbert]

China cracks down on Christian churches - China- msnbc.com

LINFEN, China (AP) -- Towering eight stories over wheat fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China's coal country.

But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say

Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside.

The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.

While the Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled organizations: The Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association for Roman Catholics.

But more and more Chinese are opting to choose their own churches, despite them being technically illegal and subject to police harassment. Christians worshipping in China's independent churches are believed to number upwards of 60 million, compared to about 20 million who worship in the state church, according to numbers provided by scholars and church activists.

Thoughts?

 

[Mr. H.]

That's not a church. It's a Mideaval Times restaurant.

 

[Avatar4321]

Tell me, are they cracking down on all Christianity or just certain groups?

 

[Oddball]

Wow...An intolerant authoritarian central gubmint giving Christians a hard time?

Good thing that could never happen in America, huh?

 

[mightypeon]

Well, they have some funny historical reasons for that too.
Did you know the number one Casus Belli used by Europeans to invade China?
"Look the Heathens killed a Christian Missionary!!!!".

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Jesus loves the lil' Chinese chil'uns too...

Christianity Growing In China
Sep 20, 2013 ~ There was a fascinating article – in of all places China Daily, the closest one comes to an "official" English-language newspaper in China – about the leader of the officially sanctioned Protestant churches in China calling for tailoring sermons for Chinese Christians based on their various personal backgrounds.

Traditionally, many Christians in China, as in other Asian countries, have been highly educated, Westernized people, and Christians have often been associated with movements for political democratization and educational enlightenment. However, the article points out that in recent years, many new converts to Christianity in China have been underprivileged and often poorly educated migrant workers in big Chinese cities. According to one religious leader quoted in the article, the traditional Christians "go to church mostly for 'a lofty spiritual need,' [while] migrant workers are seeking advice and comfort on everyday difficulties of life. … [They] are under great pressure, and they especially lack family warmth and help."

Another religious leader stated that these workers "consider themselves at the bottom of society… [and] are treated as outcasts." So Chinese Christians are thinking about how to minister to this new community of believers. But, the article says, the church needs to find a new way to relate to them. I found this article fascinating not only for its content but for the fact that this newspaper was interested in discussing internal issues of how Christians could be most effective. Christianity is certainly something of a presence in China. One occasionally comes upon young people wearing crosses (although those wearing t-shirts with American flags are more common). Millions of Christians are part of the state-recognized churches, and there are also unofficial Christian churches that live a sometimes-tolerated, sometimes-persecuted existence.

St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai, China.

While in Shanghai, I visited the Shanghai Catholic Cathedral (St. Ignatius Church), built in 1904, along with some other Catholic-related buildings. It sits in an area outside the center of town now dominated by some of the city's most gargantuan shopping malls. There were about 200 people at a late Sunday-afternoon mass, almost all Chinese (though a few Westerners), about 80 percent women and about 70 percent young or fairly young. It was a strange experience to see Chinese Christians entering the church, taking holy water, and crossing themselves.

P.S. My flight from China arrived back on the evening (U.S. time) of Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, a major holiday in Chinese culture that features people eating something called "mooncakes," jelly and/or whole cooked egg yolk-filled round sweets. The customs inspection people were ready, because mooncakes with whole egg yolks can apparently not be brought into the United States because of bird flu fears. Along with others on the China flight, I was whisked off to secondary inspection, and the various boxes with mooncake gifts I had received checked out for egg yolks. Three of my gifts survived (jelly only) but one didn't. A big waste bin included lots of mooncake boxes and tins.

Christianity grows in China -- FCW

 

[R.C. Christian]

Those filthy commie bastards.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

China cracks down on Christian churches - China- msnbc.com

LINFEN, China (AP) -- Towering eight stories over wheat fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China's coal country.

But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say

Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside.

The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.

While the Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled organizations: The Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association for Roman Catholics.

But more and more Chinese are opting to choose their own churches, despite them being technically illegal and subject to police harassment. Christians worshipping in China's independent churches are believed to number upwards of 60 million, compared to about 20 million who worship in the state church, according to numbers provided by scholars and church activists.

Thoughts?

Good thread. It is probably the understatement of the year to say that what is happening right now in China is at the door of happening here in America. Soon we shall see the same thing happen here in America that has happened in China.

The real church is departing from the false churches in America in this hour. You see these wide is the road gospel messages preached by multi millionaires from pulpits void of any bible - these men preach out of the imaginations of their own hearts. Holiness, obedience to Christ is not the standard. They pick a few verses out of the bible, twist them to fit their agenda and that makes everyone comfortable with their sin and the money pours in. The standard is not Holiness and obedience unto the Lord. ( If you mention it they will accuse you of trying to "earn your salvation".. )

Neither is that the standard of the three self church in China which is the state run churches. The real churches in China are underground churches and those number now according to Voice of the Martyrs reports to be about 100 million strong. The state run churches are run by the Communists.

The borrower is servant to the lender. We are servant to China because we are indebted to China. So when you see our government more and more coming against true Christians and targeting them as the enemy what you are really seeing is our govt capitulating to China's because the borrower is servant to the lender. They are ratcheting up the persecution in their own country in order to ratchet it up here. And this will continue... meanwhile the Laodicean church sleeps on because they do not realize that the church is in a warfare and their part is to be holy and set apart to pray in this hour. Instead they are coveting what the world covets and using scripture to vindicate themselves for it.

Pray for America. We need prayer. I met a girl yesterday who told me her mother went on a missionary trip to Africa. I told her the greatest missionary field is right here now. Start with the churches. The Message of the Cross must be preached instead of this nonsense we are hearing these days. Otherwise we are doomed. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. That is the truth no matter how revolting it is to the enemies of God.