When It Finally Happens
How are churches inside China discerning faithfulness amid shrinking space? And how should we learn to listen, respond, and accompany—without assuming a clarity we do not possess?
探討教會與國家權力的關係,包括教會自主、政教界線,以及相關的神學思考與實踐。
How are churches inside China discerning faithfulness amid shrinking space? And how should we learn to listen, respond, and accompany—without assuming a clarity we do not possess?
Surveying the fraught relationship between church and state in China, the late Chinese church historian Daniel Bays asserted that government control of religion has been a constant feature from Imperial times to the present.
The persecution story may be unending, but neither is persecution the end of the story.
Unified with the historic Christ who humbled himself, the church should be humble and suffering in this generation, bearing witness for the gospel. Only such a path is the true path of the cross of the Chinese church.
Looking at the boundary of church and state from this perspective, the church holds fast to its heavenly citizenship in a prominent manner, but holds fast to its outward rights in an inconspicuous manner.
"I agree with the principle of separation of church and state. However, this is simply a concept. It is not sufficient to help us face complicated church-state relationships. We must carefully, diligently study the Bible. How is the church to exist in this world?"
Over the past year, prominent house churches in China were shut down by government authorities stirring up questions about how the church and state in China should interact. How can the church be the church in this environment? Where is the line between the church and the state?