Abstract
This afterword reflects on the state of affairs of Christianity in China today. As opposed to classical ecclesial divisions, this chapter identifies three different yet overlapping social forms of Christianity which have developed in the last three decades: institutional Christianity, community-based Christianity, and intellectual Christianity. It asks what pathways have been traversed, the problems which have been encountered, and the prospects for the future ecclesial diversity of Chinese Christianity.
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Notes
- 1.
An earlier version of this informal paper was presented at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club. The paper has been updated and revised for the purposes of this publication, but was prepared before the promulgation of the new religious regulations in February 2018. These regulations do not substantially affect the interpretations I present here.
- 2.
Tom Phillips, “China on course to become ‘world’s most Christian nation’ within 15 years,” Telegraph, 19 April 2014. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html, accessed on 21 March 2018.
- 3.
Wu Jiao, “Religious believers thrice the estimate,” China Daily, 7 February 2007. Available at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-02/07/content_802994.htm, accessed on 21 March 2018.
- 4.
The most thorough survey is: Shijie zongjiao yanjiu suo, Jidujiao diaoyan keti zu世界宗教研究所基督教調研課題組 (Institute of World Religions, Christian Investigative Project Team), Zhongguo Jidujiao diaoyan baogao ji 中國基督教調研報告集 [Reports on Investigations Concerning Protestant Christianity in China] (Beijing: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Publishers, 2011).
- 5.
Total Bible production as of the end of December 2017 was 150 million, distributed to 70 countries and regions in over 100 different languages. The Amity Printing Company in Nanjing is now the largest printer of Bibles in the world. See http://amityprinting.com, accessed 15 March 2018.
- 6.
Robert P. Weller, “The Politics of Increasing Religious Diversity in China,” Daedalus 143, no. 2 (Spring 2014): 135–144.
- 7.
For some of the early history, see Philip L. Wickeri, Seeking the Common Ground: Protestant Christianity, the Three-Self Movement, and China’s United Front (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988).
- 8.
This would also include the “underground” Catholics.
- 9.
See Huang Jianbo 黃劍波, Dushi li de xiangcun jiaohui: Zhongguo chengshi hua yu mingong Jidujiao 都市裏的鄉村教會:中國城市化與民工基督教 [Country Churches in Cities: Urbanisation and Christianity of Migrant Workers in China] (Hong Kong: Logos and Pneuma Press, 2012).
- 10.
“Cultural Christians” tended to not identify with any local church, Protestant or Catholic. For further details on this movement, see Fredrik Fällman, Salvation and Modernity: Intellectuals and Faith in Contemporary China, rev. ed. (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2008).
- 11.
See Alexander Chow, “Calvinist Public Theology in China Today,” International Journal of Public Theology 8, no. 2 (May 2014): 158–175.
- 12.
For a recent study on this group, see Emily Dunn, Lightning from the East: Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China (Leiden: Brill, 2015).
- 13.
Wang Zuo’an, “Remarks to the Seminar on the Chinization of Christianity in China,” Chinese Theological Review 26 (2014): 64–72.
- 14.
Weller, “The Politics of Increasing Religious Diversity in China,” 139–143.
Bibliography
Chow, Alexander. 2014. Calvinist Public Theology in China Today. International Journal of Public Theology 8 (2): 158–175.
Dunn, Emily. 2015. Lightning from the East: Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China. Leiden: Brill.
Fällman, Fredrik. 2008. Salvation and Modernity: Intellectuals and Faith in Contemporary China, rev. ed. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Huang Jianbo 黃劍波. 2012. Dushi li de xiangcun jiaohui: Zhongguo chengshi hua yu mingong Jidujiao 都市裏的鄉村教會:中國城市化與民工基督教 [Country Churches in Cities: Urbanisation and Christianity of Migrant Workers in China]. Hong Kong: Logos and Pneuma Press.
Phillips, Tom. 2014. China on Course to become ‘World’s Most Christian Nation’ within 15 Years. Telegraph, 19 April 2014. Accessed 21 March 2018 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html.
Shijie zongjiao yanjiu suo, Jidujiao diaoyan keti zu世界宗教研究所基督教調研課題組 (Institute of World Religions, Christian Investigative Project Team). 2011. Zhongguo Jidujiao diaoyan baogao ji 中國基督教調研報告集 [Reports on Investigations Concerning Protestant Christianity in China]. Beijing: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Publishers.
Wang, Zuo’an. 2014. Remarks to the Seminar on the Chinization of Christianity in China. Chinese Theological Review 26: 64–72.
Weller, Robert P. 2014. The Politics of Increasing Religious Diversity in China. Daedalus 143 (2) (Spring): 135–144.
Wickeri, Philip L. 1988. Seeking the Common Ground: Protestant Christianity, the Three-Self Movement, and China’s United Front. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Wu Jiao. 2007. Religious Believers Thrice the Estimate. China Daily, 7 February 2007. Accessed 21 March 2018. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-02/07/content_802994.htm.
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Wickeri, P.L. (2021). Afterword: Christianity in China—Pathways, Problems, and Prospects. In: Chow, A., Law, E. (eds) Ecclesial Diversity in Chinese Christianity. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73069-7_10
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