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Prompt: Read the following articles: Zylstra, S. (2015). 400 Down, More to Follow. Christianity Today, 20–23; Moir, M. (2016). Christians in China wary of government’s effort to remold faith. Christian Century, 10, 20; Yu, V. (2020). As protests continue in Hong Kong, Beijing’s criticism of churches grows louder. America, 1, 12–13. Also read Galatians 3: 23-29, 1 Corinthians 12:12-30, and Colossians 3:11-17. How do the events in the articles, Chapter 5, and the verses relate to how Chinese Christians must identify as both Chinese and Christians? What are their challenges, and how do they cope? What lessons can you learn as you identify as both a Christian and an American?Requirements: Minimum of 500 words. APA format.
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B ut it h a s p ro v o k ed a sim ila r re sp o n se.
In s te a d o f d e m o ra liz in g C h ristia n s, th e
p e rs e c u tio n h a s “stiffe n e d th e ir resolve
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n the past year, th e g o v e rn m e n t of
a w e a lth y c o a sta l p ro v in c e in C hina
h a s ta k e n th e sam e th in g fro m m o re
th a n 400 c h u rch es: a big re d cross.
T he rem o v als in th e Z h ejian g city of
W enzhou, k n o w n as “China’s]eru salem ,”
w ereordered byprovincial p a rty secretary
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South
Xia B aolong. A nd th e te a rd o w n s w o n ‘t
s to p u n til 2 0 t6 , th e g o v e rn m e n t to ld religious lead e rs.
To be su re , re m o v in g c ro s se s is n o t
a s d e v a s ta tin g as C h in a’s c lo sin g a n d
c ru s h in g o f c h u rc h e s d u rin g th e Cultu ra l Revolution o f th e 1960s a n d ’70s.
B ren t F u lto n said. “It b ro u g h t h o m e th a t
b eliev ers have a p ric e to pay.”
T hecross rem ovals are also pro m p ting
m o re C h ristia n s to self-reflect.
” C h ristia n s in W e n z h o u [are] w ond e rin g w h a t lesso n s God w a n ts th e m to
take fro m th is cam p aig n ,” said Fenggang
Yang, d ire c to r o f th e C en ter on R eligion
a n d C h in ese S o ciety a t F u rd u e U niversity. S om e w o n d e r if th e y n e e d to s h ift
th e ir focus fro m th e phy sical b u ild in g to
tra in in g m in is te rs a n d se n d in g o u t m issio n a ries, o r if th e size o fth e ir c h u rc h e s
rev ealed p rid e.
“[C h ris tia n s ] h a v e le a r n e d t h a t a
c h u rc h b u ild in g is n o t th e s a m e as a
co n g re g atio n o fb e lie v e rs,”w ro te Z h ang o
Yuan, a co lu m n ist for th e Christian Tim es <
n e w sp a p e r in m a in la n d C hina. “So now, ج
in stead of com peting to s e e w h o c a n build
t h e s t o i l d i n g , th e focus h a s s h ifte d to
th e s p iritu a l c o n s tru c tio n o fb e lie v e rs.”
T he c ro s s re m o v a ls h a v e a lso to r n
d o w n a m e ta p h o ric a l w all b e tw e e n th e
u n re g is te r e d h o u se c h u rc h e s a n d th e
Cali 8 0 0 .5 0 4 .5 2 7 8 ٠٢ visit us online at SouthU niversity.edu
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official T hree-S elf P a trio tic M ovem ent
churches,Y ang said. Before th ecam p aig n ,
th e tw o d id n ’t co o p erate, h e said.
T his is th e first tim e th e g o v e rn m e n t
h a sd em o lish ed Three-Self churches, said
Kody Kness, vice p re s id e n t o f C hina Aid.
^ a d e t tm c tio n is b r in g in g h o u s e a n d o f ficial ch u rch com m unities clo serto g e th er
“in a w a y o nly ex p erien cin g p e rse c u tio n
can,” h e said.
For exam ple, H uang Yizi, aT h ree-S elf
pastor, w as sen ten ced to a y ear in p riso n
for “g a th e rin g a crow d to d is tu rb p ublic
o rd e r” w h e n h is co n g re g a tio n fo rm e d
a h u m a n w all to try to keep th e ir cross.
H ouse c h u rc h a tte n d e e s co m p o se h is
en tire legal team .
T he g o v e rn m e n t says it is re m o v in g
crosses b ecau se th e ch u rc h e s w ere bnift
illegally. Som e of th e b u ild in g s w ere constru c te d la rg e rth a n th e irp e rm its allowed.
But in te rn a l g o v ern m en t d o c u m e n ts obta in e d by The N ew York T im es la s t y e a r
revealed a d iffe re n t m o tiv atio n .
“T he p rio rity is to rem o v e c ro sses a t
relig io u s a c tiv ity site s o n b o th sid e s o f
e x p re ssw a y s, n a tio n a l h ig h w a y s, a n d
p ro v in c ia l h ig h w a y s,” th e d o c u m e n t
said. “O ver tim e a n d in b a tc h e s, b rin g
‘Instead 01’competing to see tvho can build
Ibe best building, the focus has shifted to
the spiritual construction ()(‘believers.’
ZH A N G ¥ U A N , C H R I S T I A N T I M E S C O L U MN I S T
d o w n th e c ro sse s fro m th e ro o fto p s to
th e fa cad e o f th e b u ild in g s.”
T h e “T h re e R e c tific a tio n s a n d O ne
D em o litio n ” c a m p a ig n seeks to reg u late
“e xcessive re lig io u s s ite s ” a n d “o v erly
p o p u la r” relig io u s activ ities. To th e govern m e n t, th e cro ss-to p p e d b u ild in g s are
a n ev an g e listic tool.
A nd th a t can he tru e , E u lto n of China
Source said. Som e helievers arg u e th a t in
C hina’s c o n su m e r e c o n o m y th e c h u rc h
n e e d s a c e rta in level o f v isib ility a n d so-
^sticaion.YoungerhineseChristians
a re n ’t as w illing to sit in so m eo n e’s living
ro o m an d have a c h u rc h service, he said.
th e b u ild in g itse lf,n o tju st
th e cross, can d ra w seekers. “W h e n ontsid ers see th e good lift o fc h ristia n s, th ey
are g ra d u a lly d ra w n to th e faith ,” w ro te
a Gospel T im es co m m en ter. “If w o rsh ip
to o k p lace in secret, do you th in k th e re
w ouldbe so m anyC hristians in W enzhou?”
T hough th ep h y sical cross can evangelize, a n even bigger issu e is th e allegiance
ft rep rese n ts, ¥ a n g said. “B oth sid es—th e
C o m m u n ist P a rty a n d th e C h ris tia n s—
see th is as a sym bolic fight. W h o are you
suhm issive to?” (E stim ates su g g e stc h in a
h as 70 m illio n C h ristian s over age 16 a n d
85 m illio n C o m m u n ist P a rty m em b ers.)
A C h ristian ’slo y alty belongs to Christ,
b u t ev en Je su s c o u n se ls th e P h a ris e e s
to “give to C a e sa r w h a t is C a e s a r’s,”
sa id Y ang. T h a t’s s o m e th in g C h in ese
C h ristia n s are “th in k in g over a n d over.”
5arah Eekhoff Zylstra
From the editors of Christianity Today…. A smatl magaztne about a big God and his big world.
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آلﻣﺂورلم؛
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atmosphere and motivation here to do
our jobs well. I can be myself here.”
Luc is still studying Torah part time,
and his wife is able to work fewer hours.
Even so, he would like his sons to study
Torah full time, without secular studies.
“I believe that if and when they feel
the need to work they’ll be able to catch
up very quickly,” he said. “Just like I did.”
-Michele Chabin, Religion News Service
to remold faith
PRAISE IN MANDARIN: Christians worship in Beijing. After deçà of growth for
Christianity in China, the government since
2014 has attempted to make it align more
with ojjcials* vision of national culture.
On a hazy Sunday morning, the fourth
floor of a dingy gray office building in
Beijing is bursting with prayer.
In the Chinese capital, it’s common
for church services to be held in Sovietera office buildings. But the crackedconcrete dankness of this particular location cannot dampen the congregation’s
enthusiasm. Several hundred Christians
clap their hands and stomp their fe’et
while a quartet at the front of the ׳roo’m
belts out songs praising Yesu (.Jesus .in
Mandarin).
Most of the men and women in attendance at the government-sanctioned
Yizhuang Church are younger than 40,
though several elderly Chinese women
with their grandchildren are among
those who pack the venue.
When the band is finished, the pastor,
Du Jian Jun, takes the podium to deliver
his sermon, and the crowd settles into
blue folding chairs. Du, who speaks in
Mandarin, preaches that while the lives
we lead can be difficult, with the guidance
of Yesu we have the tools to carry on.
The pastor’s message is straightforward؛
the relationship between Christianity and
the Chinese government is more complex.
In August 2014, a top-ranking official
in the Chinese government informed the
world that China was planning to nationalize Christianity. Wang Zuoan, director
of the State Administration for Religious
Affairs, told a forum in Shanghai that the
“construction of Chinese Christian theology should adapt to China’s condition
and integrate with Chinese culture.”
A pastor from Zhejiang Province in
eastern China said the aim is “to reform
and remold Christianity into a [Communist] Party-dominated tool that can be
used in its service.”
It’s difficult, of course, for anyone to
know exactly what that means. But what
cannot be disputed is the friction
between the state and Chinese Christians: over the past two years, Chinese
authorities—citing building code violations—have torn down more than 1,200
crosses from churches across the country,
destroyed several churches, and arrested
pastors and activists.
Chinese Christians in Zhejiang either
rebuilt or replaced some of those crosses.
And provincial branches of the ^reeSelf Patriotic Movement and the
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association,
two of the three government-approved
Christian organizations in China, sent
letters to party leaders condemning the
crackdown on Christian symbols.
In 1982 the Communist Party released a document stating that there
were about 3 million Protestants in
China ؛a 2010 Pew report estimated that
there were 68 million. This growth is a
source of alarm for Chinese authorities,
according to Fenggang Yang, a professor
of sociology at Purdue University and a
scholar of religion’in China.
Officials “want to find some way to
maintain control, and sinicization is
the latest effort to tame Christianity
through a more systematic campaign,”
Yang said.
Christians in China wary
of government’s effort
Christian Century May 11, 2016
20
Yang notes that the push to sinicize
Christianity manifests itself in different
ways, such as church buildings being constructed in a traditional Chinese style,
the music in church services sounding
more Chinese, and preachers using
Chinese stories in their sermons.
But he believes the most important
aspect of the current campaign is to
make sure Christian churches are politically aligned with the government and
are not spreading subversive ideas from
outside China’s borders —an idea he
finds preposterous.
“It’s ridiculous to still regard Christianity as a foreign religion,” he said.
“For those Christians, they don’t see a
foreign religion, but a Christian God
they perceive to be real, powerful, and
that’s helped in their lives.”
Xi Lian, professor of world Christianity at Duke Divinity School, suggests
the tension between Chinese Christians
and the Chinese government is a relatively new phenomenon.
“The tension has arisen because of
the hostility of the state toward all forms
of religion—not just Christianity—that
do not subject themselves to government
control and domination,” Lian said.
China has been accused by various
human rights organizations of brutally
repressing the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic
minority group in western China.
If Chinese authorities do, indeed, fear
the rise of a robust, defiant Christianity
in China, they should think carefully
about the strategy they use to address it.
Lian said.
“The harsher the state’s treatment of
Christianity, the more vigorously and
unpredictably it will grow,” he said.
Amy Huang, a 47-year-old preschool
teacher in Beijing, doesn’t consider the
government a threat to Christianity.
“People in China are lost,” she said.
“They’re looking for something to
believe in other than communism.”
After spending years exploring different religions, Huang was baptized in
2000. She has since converted her mother to Christianity, too.
“Christianity will continue to grow in
China, and I don’t think the authorities can
stop it because the appetite is there,” she
said. “Communism lets too many people
down.”-Matt Moir, Religion News Service
ATLV
Copyright and Use:
As an ATLAS user, you may print, downioad, or send articles for individual use
according to fair use as defined by u.s. and international copyright law and as
otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement.
No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the
copyright holder(s)’ express written permission. Any use, decompiling,
reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a
violation of copyright law.
This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission
from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of ajournai
typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However,
for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article.
Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific
work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered
by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the
copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available,
or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s).
About ATLAS:
The ATLA Serials (ATLAS®) collection contains electronic versions of previously
published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS
collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association
(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American
Theological Library Association.
DISPATCHES
As protests continue in Hong Kong,
Beijing’s criticism of churches grows louder
By Verna Yu
“It is time Hong Kong’s churches rid themselves of poison,”
said the narrator in a video released recently by the Chinese
state media, as the city’s activist Christian community
becomes the latest target of official opprobrium.
Hong Kong’s ongoing unrest, sparked in early June by
a controversial extradition law that has since been withdrawn, shows no sign of abating. By mid-December police
reported that they had arrested more than 6,000 people
and fired more than 16,000 rounds of tear gas, 10,000 rubber bullets and even live rounds in efforts to suppress the
demonstrations. Some demonstrators have thrown Molotov cocktails and bricks at security forces.
In recent weeks, the Chinese government has intensified its rhetoric against Christian churches in Hong Kong,
portraying them as part of the “foreign hostile forces” that
seek to create political unrest—and not just in Hong Kong.
A video titled “Chaotic Hong Kong Religious Groups Abandon God’s Will,” posted on a People’s Daily’s microblog, begins with a broad accusation: “Churches that stir chaos in
Hong Kong have become political organs…. Let’s strip them
of their religious cloaks—those religious con artists who
meddle in politics and poison young people!”
12 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG
Christian churches and clergy have tried to play a mediating role since the start of the crisis, but their criticism of
police brutality and violations of human rights has provoked
the Chinese government’s wrath. Joseph Ha Chi-shing, an
auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong, asked participants at a prayer meeting in late October to remain peaceful
as they demonstrated for democracy. “Many people think
because our opponents provoke us and don’t respond to us,
we can harbor hatred and anger,” he said. But Hong Kong’s
Christians, even in resistance, “are also responsible” to remain nonviolent, Bishop Ha said.
Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong’s
Baptist University and a Catholic, said official Chinese
rhetoric often attributes party failures to “external forces.” He said Beijing’s hostility toward churches reflects “a
deep-rooted ideological prejudice against Christianity.”
“The party sees the universality and supranationality of
Christianity as a threat to the ideological supremacy of the
ruling elites,” he said. “They see all this in terms of political
struggles over people’s spiritual yearnings.”
After the crackdown of the Tiananmen Square movement in 1989, the Chinese Communist Party concluded
A protester holds a flag that reads: “Liberate Hong Kong,
Revolution of Our Times” at a rally in Hong Kong on Dec. 12.
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
that Christianity and Christian
churches played a part in the fall
of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. It now views the
Christian faith as an agent of imperialism, he said.
Professor Ying Fuk Tsang,
the director of the divinity school
at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong and one of the three Christian figures singled out in the
official video, said the Chinese
authorities have in recent years
stepped up their rhetoric on religion as a destabilizing force in
Chinese society.
“The Chinese government
resorts to [blaming] external
forces and they link Christian
participation to the Western
manipulation,” Mr. Ying said,
citing as one example the Chinese authorities’ view that the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is inciting unrest across the world. “So opening churches
to the ‘rioters’ is to shield them. To sympathize with protesters is to condone violence.
“Even the joint statements made by students and alumni [from Christian schools] are criticized as meddling by the
church,” Mr. Ying said.
Naming outspoken Christian clergy members and
scholars, including Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus
of Hong Kong, as the key culprits, the narrator in the Communist Party video said Catholic and Protestant churches were guilty of “inciting” and abetting anti-government
“riots.” The video cited prayer meetings, joint ecumenical
statements that condemn police brutality and even hospitality toward protesters as “evidence” of the churches’ alleged plan to subvert Hong Kong.
Hong Kong churches have become the focus of much
of Beijing’s anger at the refusal of Hong Kong’s young people to accept its rule. Many schools, colleges and civil or
social service organizations are run by churches. Some 40
percent of the people arrested so far have been students.
The Chinese government views Christianity as a heretical
influence on Hong Kong society, even though the majority
of Christian churches have not been outspoken on the current crisis and political issues.
The singing of the hymn “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord”
was a regular component of the first weeks of the anti-government demonstrations, often sung during tense standoffs between protesters and police as Christian pastors and
Catholic priests prayed with hundreds of protesters. After
the police banned rallies and demonstrations, protesters
resorted to calling their rallies Christian assemblies, which
do not require police permission.
Reverend Youngman Chan, who has acted as a peacemaker between police and protesters during numerous
confrontations, believes the current crisis presents unprecedented challenges for Christian churches. While
many Hong Kong Christians believe they have a legitimate
role to play in civic and political life, other Christians here,
citing Rom 13:1, view politics as “unspiritual and heretical,”
arguing that “everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.”
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Mr. Chan said. “[The crisis] is a purging process that makes us purer, stronger and
wiser, but it’s also an opportunity for some to get in with the
‘right’ side’ of the government.”
Christians have to “wake up and ask questions,” he
said. “Are we going to continue [being comfortable and
subordinate], or are we waking up to core Christian values,
to be the salt and light of the world?
“Martyrdom and persecution have always been the
Christian church’s heritage. Jesus said, ‘Take up the cross to
follow me,’” Mr. Chan added. “We can’t ask to be exempted.”
Both men believe that the Chinese government’s forceful message will intimidate many churches into closing
their facilities to protesters; and in the long run, the government may punish outspoken churches by making it
difficult for them to apply for land and other resources for
their school plans and other services.
“This attack will lead to internal conflicts in churches because many are already [political] conservatives,”
Mr. Ying said. The Communist Party will also start a
fresh round of “United Front” work, he said, referring to
China’s official efforts to co-opt sources of potential opposition to the party, such as churches and political parties, “to get those who could be brought round to their
side and isolate those who are disobedient.”
Verna Yu contributes from Hong Kong.
JANUARY 6, 2020 AMERICA
| 13
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