Will China be world's largest Christian nation by 2025?

DR. JIM DENISON, PRESIDENT AUG 27, 2014

Fenggang Yang is a sociology professor at Purdue University and author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule.  He believes that "China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon."  By his calculations, the number of believers in the People's Republic of China will rise to 160 million by 2025 and 247 million by 2030.  If so, the country would be home to more Christians than any nation on earth. When I visited Beijing a few years ago, I was told that the rate of Christian growth is even higher than Professor Yang documents.  By some measures, as many as 100,000 Chinese people come to Christ every day.  Growth there is hard to document, given the large underground Christian movement in the country.  Some observers believe that there are more followers of Jesus in China than members of the Chinese Communist party. When missionaries were expelled from China in 1949, there were less than four million believers in the country.  Many predicted the death of the church.  In the decades since, the Christian movement has exploded in growth, defying all odds and persecution.  Recent attacks on church buildings in China are the enemy's latest response to the advance of God's Kingdom in this ancient land. What has led to China's spiritual renaissance? First, Christians in China have learned to depend fully and unconditionally on the power of God's Spirit.  When I visited Beijing, I was astonished by the passionate spiritual depth I encountered.  In a culture where there is little cultural support and active government resistance, believers must turn to God.  Mother Teresa was right: "You'll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have." Second, Chinese Christians have paid the price of perseverance.  They have weathered waves of persecution and opposition with steadfast resolve.  Such commitment has deepened their community and their faith.  Albert Schweitzer observed that "one who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity."  Albert Einstein believed that "in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." How has God called you to engage your lost culture with his truth and love?  The higher your calling, the harder you must climb to fulfill it.  But Charles Spurgeon was right: "If we cannot believe God when circumstances seem to be against us, we do not believe him at all." Do you believe God today?

超越凱撒與上帝之爭

2014-08-08 08:27

共產黨和基督教有某種秘密的血緣關係？歷史學家發現，蘇聯領袖斯大林就曾就讀神學院，而共產黨所習用的小組討論、批評與自我批評、黨的生活、黨員彼此交心、坦白等，其實都是從教會吸取的營養。

因而無神論的共產黨和基督教之間，往往有一種歷史的張力，彼此如何“和平共存”，而不是成為“天敵”，其實都考驗雙方的決策者。

中國在改革開放之前，對基督教全面鎮壓，不僅因為馬克思說宗教是精神的鴉片，也因為列寧認為，帝國主義是資本主義的最高階段，而基督教往往被共產黨視為帝國主義入侵中國的先鋒，是披著羊皮的狼。但中國改革開放後，告別了教條的解釋，逐漸實現宗教自由，並且將源於西方的基督教本土化，落實“自治、自養、自傳”的三自教會信念與實踐，也使基督教在中國找到了發展的空間。

這些年來中國的“意識形態大撤退”，導致價值的真空，社會上瀰漫“但求目的、不擇手段”的虛無心態，基督教的信仰，恰好彌補這樣的缺陷，在道德的廢墟中，建築起一座高聳入雲的精神大廈，成為中國的一道重要的風景。

這也許引起了一些官員的忌憚，埋下了浙江當局拆除十字架的伏筆。浙江省從今年2月以來，逐步對基督教堂的十字架採取了清拆行動，引發了強大的反彈。浙南的溫州號稱是“中國的耶路撒冷”，900萬人口中，估計有120萬人是基督徒，省會杭州也擁有全球最大的華人教堂崇一堂，可容納5千500名信眾。但強制拆除十字架究竟是黨中央的政策，還只是省委書記夏寶龍的個人意志？

夏寶龍在習近平當浙江省委書記時，曾擔任習的副手。據傳他在當上省委書記後，巡視省內基督教堂林立的時候說過：“這是十字架的天下，還是共產黨的天下？”這樣的質疑，也陷入了凱撒與上帝爭奪戰的泥沼里。

從人類的文明史來觀察，政教分離，才是更有智慧的做法。公權力不要干預個人的信仰，不要陷進和宗教博弈的困局中。歷史上所有壓迫宗教的行動，都只會培育了一大批“殉教者”，刺激這些宗教更加強大，更加與“凱撒們”作殊死鬥，反而成為一股對政權威脅的力量。

凱撒的歸凱撒，上帝的歸上帝。這不但是耶穌對政權挑戰的回應，也是公權力的智慧；雙方在“平行的時空”里，和而不同。宗教的力量，跳出現實政治的刀光劍影，找回靈魂的歸宿。而現實權力的遊戲規則，亟需尊重憲法所規定的宗教自由，讓信仰成為社會穩定的力量，而不是顛覆的力量。

這次中國官方所控制的三自教會也發揮自主的精神，對浙江省的違憲行為加以譴責，突破了黨國結構的一言堂限制。中國政治的現代化指標，就從落實“政教分離”的原則開始。（星洲日報／亞洲筆記‧作者：邱立本‧《亞洲周刊》總編輯）

來源：http://opinions.sinchew.com.my/node/33597?tid=58