Urbanization and the Church: East and West
As China has urbanized the challenges facing the church increasingly mirror those in other urban societies.
Ideas
Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.
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Is Confucianism a Religion or an Ethical System?
In the 17th and 18th centuries there was a dispute between Jesuit and Dominican missionaries in China about whether or not Chinese converts should be allowed to continue practicing traditional rites and ceremonies that were rooted in Confucianism, such as ancestor worship. The Jesuits said they should be allowed; the Dominicans said no.
Why Crosses? Why Zhejiang?
The massive campaign against church crosses in China’s Zhejiang province is in the news again with the release this month of the US State Department’s 2015 Report on International Religious Freedom.
5 Challenges Facing Churches in China
The Gospel Times recently published an article written by a pastor in Xiamen on what he considers to be some of the key challenges facing the church in China today. Here is a translation of the article.
Daoism: Yesterday and Today
I once had a discussion with my Chinese professor about the influences of Confucianism and Daoism (Taoism) in the worldview of Chinese people. “You have to understand,” he told me, “that we are Confucian when things are going well, when we have position and authority, and when life is hard for us and we are ‘down and out,’ we are Daoists.”
We’ve Come this Way Before
Throughout history as various attempts have been made to introduce the gospel to China, a series of “perennial questions” have arisen regarding the relationship between the Christian faith and Chinese culture.
Yu Jie: A Christian Future for China
In August, First Things published an article penned by the Chinese Christian intellectual Yu Jie titled “China’s Christian Future.”
Gospel Advancement in the Marketplace
The gospel is advancing in the workplaces of China. Learn more in the August episode of ChinaSource Conversations.
A Changing China
It’s become an almost tiring cliché to say that China is changing. In the last century alone, the changes have been staggering.
Relational and Cultural Renewal
Having read Wang Jun’s article “The Preeminence of Love in Chinese Families” in the most recent ChinaSource Quarterly (18.2), “Christian Ethics and Family Living in China,” I would like to respond with a few thoughts that I trust will be helpful, and that might open further dialogue on this important topic.
Foreign NGO Law
Article 11 of the new Foreign NGO Management Law that is due to go into effect on January 1, 2017, will require foreign NGOs operating in China to “obtain consent of a professional supervisory unit.” The list of the approved supervisory units has yet to be released.
China and the House Church
Police actions against several house churches in Guangdong province in recent weeks again point up the fragile state of China’s vast unregistered Christian community.