Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.
The website NGOs in China recently published a summary of a Q&A session between the European Chamber of Commerce and the Foreign NGO Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. Seeking clarification on how the law will be implemented, the delegation from the European Chamber of Commerce posed 13 questions.
There are numerous models of cultural differences out there. The good folks at Global Mapping International (GMI) have put together a helpful infographic highlighting three primarily cultural orientations as depicted by the three primary colors.
First, let me confess that I am not an expert on China, nor have I lived in China. My exposure consists of supporting New Song’s in-country program director while working remotely from the US. Twice a year for 6-8 weeks at a time I travel to China for direct interface with those Chinese nationals who are trained and equipped to implement self-worth development curriculum. Through these committed community leaders New Song has impacted children and youth across China with what I believe is a culturally relevant and biblically based message of the intrinsic value of every individual. As a Westerner, my knowledge of China is shaped by this sliver of a window into Chinese culture and the church in China. It is more exposure than the average Westerner but not as much as some of you who read this blog.
Dissatisfied with the current educational system and wanting their children to be taught from a biblical worldview, Christian parents in China are exploring a variety of alternatives. In the latest episode of ChinaSource Conversations we explore these alternatives in Christian education with three educators who have firsthand experience with schools in China.
This podcast features a discussion among three educators, one from China and two from the United States, about trends in Chinese Christian education. They look specifically at a private school model that features a holistic educational experience grounded in a Christian worldview. In this podcast Dr. Charlie Brainer of Taylor University also traces the development of private schools in China against the backdrop of competing national educational goals.
As China has urbanized the challenges facing the church increasingly mirror those in other urban societies.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
In August, First Things published an article penned by the Chinese Christian intellectual Yu Jie titled “China’s Christian Future.”