Rise of Christianity in Republic of China

1991sudarshan · Jul 25, 2017

If the nationalists had won over the communists and the ROC prevailed over the entire Mainland, were there any chances of Christianization of entire Mainland China?

Popular Nationalists leaders were Christians - Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Chiang-Kai Sheik

Would China have faced the same situation , that South Korean is facing? Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Korea and the People who held power in South Korea where also Christians - Syngman Rhee is a Methodists

Ichon · Jul 25, 2017

Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China right now. 1950 China had somewhere between 3-4 million Christians, now China has somewhere just under 70 million Christians.

5% or greater growth rate has been sustained for almost three decades so within 50 years there should be over 200 million Chinese Christians if that continues.

YouLoveMeYouKnowIt · Jul 26, 2017

Ichon said:
Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China right now. 1950 China had somewhere between 3-4 million Christians, now China has somewhere just under 70 million Christians.

5% or greater growth rate has been sustained for almost three decades so within 50 years there should be over 200 million Chinese Christians if that continues.

I don't think so. The CCP will not allow it.

heylouis · Jul 26, 2017

the most important factor that Christianity became popular in korea is that they lost their history for almost two to three generations.

that is not the case of china.

Senyokbalgul · Jul 26, 2017

Why go backwards from a secular population to a religious one? I have no problem with Christianity itself but I do have one when it starts spreading into Asia like a disease.

David Vagamundo · Jul 26, 2017

Senyokbalgul said:
Why go backwards from a secular population to a religious one? I have no problem with Christianity itself but I do have one when it starts spreading into Asia like a disease.

I would call the spread of Christianity going forward. That's because I'm a Christian. Your reference to Christianity as "like a disease" is offensive.

robto · Jul 26, 2017

Senyokbalgul said:
Why go backwards from a secular population to a religious one? I have no problem with Christianity itself but I do have one when it starts spreading into Asia like a disease.

I don't see the spread of Christianity as something going backward.
First we have to determine what kind of Christianity is exactly growing in China? Is it Roman Catholicism, mainline Protestantism or the more conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches?
Some branches of Christianity are better than others. Besides, secularism under a communist regime is not in any way better than a theocracy.

songtsen · Jul 26, 2017

Ichon said:
Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China right now. 1950 China had somewhere between 3-4 million Christians, now China has somewhere just under 70 million Christians.

5% or greater growth rate has been sustained for almost three decades so within 50 years there should be over 200 million Chinese Christians if that continues.

Where did you get this number ? I am in China and do not any signs of Christian revival.
To my knowledge Christianity is not very successful in China. The biggest religion in China is Money and the second biggest is Buddhism and than Taoism and than Islam and folk religions and than comes Christianity.

Christianity in China faces the same problem it faces in India. It is seen as western and associated with colonial power.

PS: The missionaries especially the Americans were some of the most friendly and honest people. The Koreans were quite pushy and loud.

anmol · Jul 26, 2017

robto said:
I don't see the spread of Christianity as something going backward.
First we have to determine what kind of Christianity is exactly growing in China? Is it Roman Catholicism, mainline Protestantism or the more conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches?
Some branches of Christianity are better than others. Besides, secularism under a communist regime is not in any way better than a theocracy.

I think in most places it is conservative evangilical because they are the ones most evangelical towards conversion and have the most money.

Ichon · Jul 26, 2017

songtsen said:
Where did you get this number ? I am in China and do not any signs of Christian revival.
To my knowledge Christianity is not very successful in China. The biggest religion in China is Money and the second biggest is Buddhism and than Taoism and than Islam and folk religions and than comes Christianity.

Christianity in China faces the same problem it faces in India. It is seen as western and associated with colonial power.

PS: The missionaries especially the Americans were some of the most friendly and honest people. The Koreans were quite pushy and loud.

There are millions of Christians in China for sure, the exact numbers vary according to what you look at since officially China is Athiest. For myself an ex girlfriend from Xian and her entire family, most neighbours, and thousands in that city and several other cities are practising Christians.

When I was in both China and Japan I attended many services in people's houses and outdoor gathering places where a few hundred people sometimes showed up. I am not Christian myself but in those times I could see the attraction where it feels the faith is at least honest compared to almost all the Churches I've seen in the Americas. I would even go so far to say that if I hadn't had those experiences and seen some of the volunteers risking their lives in some very dangerous places outside of Asia I would still carry a very negative stereotype of Christians that I developed when I was younger.

Atheist China could have largest number of Christians in the world by 2030 | world-news | Hindustan Times

Christians form human shield around church in 'China's Jerusalem' after demolition threat - Telegraph

By the way- the description of Korean missionaries is pretty normal even now that I am living in the U.S. when I was at university here Korean missionaries came to the campus every other weekend or maybe even more frequently and are the 2nd loudest religious group I've seen only some anti-abortion zealots were louder.

For the idea of money being powerful in China... the small congregations I visited it wasn't that way but when I went to a newly built mega Church, everywhere people dressed to impress and people with snobby manners were around so I am guessing in some ways it could be following the Korean model done in Chinese way but similar results. Korean churches are huge networking palaces where people in business meet and talk to develop the trust for some business deals. Probably healthier than the Japanese way of drinking in some izakaya for 6 hours a night.

heylouis · Jul 26, 2017

robto said:
First we have to determine what kind of Christianity is exactly growing in China? Is it Roman Catholicism, mainline Protestantism or the more conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches?

the organized Christianity community is mainly Roman Catholicism and/or Protestantism.

however, if we were going to accept the so called under ground churches.... then .... they are actually nothing close to any of the listed ones. most of the "under ground" guys has no proper education on the religious theories, and they "interpret" bible on their own understanding without references.

so...the optimism on spreading of christianity in china, which usually relies on the numbering of under ground guys, usually is not so reliable as it claims.

Ichon · Jul 26, 2017

heylouis said:
so...the optimism on spreading of christianity in china, which usually relies on the numbering of under ground guys, usually is not so reliable as it claims.

It depends on why counting them. Organized religion could be a potential political challenge while the underground guys might not be the best on doctrines it is probably a more authentic faith for that though how that might impact Chinese culture I am not sure.

All the Christian Chinese I met valued education highly and still had some idea of filial bonds as being quite important. Maybe they don't see as high a value on death penalty and see some charity outside local community as a public good but honestly without being directly tied to a political consensus Chinese authorities for now only worry about the future if the household Christians rally around something that unifies what is for now fragile bonds.

heylouis · Jul 26, 2017

Ichon said:
It depends on why counting them. Organized religion could be a potential political challenge while the underground guys might not be the best on doctrines it is probably a more authentic faith for that though how that might impact Chinese culture I am not sure.

All the Christian Chinese I met valued education highly and still had some idea of filial bonds as being quite important. Maybe they don't see as high a value on death penalty and see some charity outside local community as a public good but honestly without being directly tied to a political consensus Chinese authorities for now only worry about the future if the household Christians rally around something that unifies what is for now fragile bonds.

it is possible you meet the people who can fluently communicate with you, so you only see part of the figure.

the spreading of Christian is a disease in some schools even colleges. i am not calling Christian a disease, i am saying that the methods they do spreading is a disease. putting ugly paper sheet on telegraph pole and other places with super-glues that cannot be cleaned, following you and talking to you on when you already showed no interest, urging the organized believers not to go to the church...
that is the current situation of the majority of under ground Christian...
sadly, few educated sphere cannot change the majority behaviors.

for these, i don't believe the authorities worry about their unification, i can only guess the authorities worry about they leave a mess of social problems.

Ichon · Jul 28, 2017

heylouis said:
sadly, few educated sphere cannot change the majority behaviors.

for these, i don't believe the authorities worry about their unification, i can only guess the authorities worry about they leave a mess of social problems.

That is always true even in cultures that generally respect education.

It seems authorities are usually most worried about potential threats to stability but what mess of social problems do the underground household churches cause? Leaving litter is not nice but some business advertisements do worse, is there a reputation for social problems with the Christian underground churches? I would be interested to hear about that.

heylouis · Jul 28, 2017

Ichon said:
but what mess of social problems do the underground household churches cause?

you know one tiny fraction can poison them all. and this tiny fraction poisoning the underground believers is "evil cults".

forbidding hospital, ... slave, debt fraud....

these are all crime level problems.

there are also more generally found issues, which can easily evolve into social problems. for example, "the non-believers will go hell" is the most common word found in underground believers. this kind phrasing and idea could raise great tension with others.

Senyokbalgul · Aug 1, 2017

If China really does become a Christian majority country, I would probably lose a significant amount of respect for them. The Philippines is already a lost cause with 90% of the population identifying as Christian. South Korea is at a dangerous point but is still recoverable from this growing threat since 50% of the population identify as having no religion with high rates of atheism and agnosticism.

YouLoveMeYouKnowIt · Aug 1, 2017

Senyokbalgul said:
If China really does become a Christian majority country, I would probably lose a significant amount of respect for them. The Philippines is already a lost cause with 90% of the population identifying as Christian. South Korea is at a dangerous point but is still recoverable from this growing threat since 50% of the population identify as having no religion with high rates of atheism and agnosticism.

What would be your beef with Xtianity?

songtsen · Aug 1, 2017

Senyokbalgul said:
If China really does become a Christian majority country, I would probably lose a significant amount of respect for them. The Philippines is already a lost cause with 90% of the population identifying as Christian. South Korea is at a dangerous point but is still recoverable from this growing threat since 50% of the population identify as having no religion with high rates of atheism and agnosticism.

Do not worry. China will never be a religious country. The very history of China points to it.
But I don't see why Christianity is bad ? Mormons are is me of the most polite and highly educated people in the world. Even if China becomes a Mormon Christian country ...I have no problem.

robto · Aug 1, 2017

songtsen said:
Do not worry. China will never be a religious country. The very history of China points to it.
But I don't see why Christianity is bad ? Mormons are is me of the most polite and highly educated people in the world. Even if China becomes a Mormon Christian country ...I have no problem.

Not all branches of Christianity are like the Mormons...besides, the mormons are very conservative and "odd" in their ideas and concept of Christian theology.

dagul · Aug 1, 2017

heylouis said:
the most important factor that Christianity became popular in korea is that they lost their history for almost two to three generations.

that is not the case of china.

How do you assess the cultural revolution of Mao which appeared to have destroyed certain deep historical connection of the present Chinese generation towards the glories of its ancient history?

Search

Search

Rise of Christianity in Republic of China

1991sudarshan

Ichon

YouLoveMeYouKnowIt

heylouis

Senyokbalgul

David Vagamundo

robto

songtsen

anmol

Ichon

heylouis

Ichon

heylouis

Ichon

heylouis

Senyokbalgul

YouLoveMeYouKnowIt

songtsen

robto

dagul

More History Discussions

Recent History Discussions

Trending History Discussions