Confessing Evangelical

Yesterday's Telegraph had some interesting coverage of what may turn out to be one of the most significant social transformations in history: the conversion of China to Christianity.

A piece headed "Christianity is China's new social revolution" describes how there are now probably more Christians in China than there are members of the Communist Party. The writer points out that "Few believe that many of the party's 70 million members keep the faith burning any more". As one house church member puts it:

"We have very few people who believe in communism as a faith, so there's an emptiness in their hearts."

The article describes the persecution that Chinese believers face, but also the ambivalence of the Chinese leadership, who find themselves in a similar position to that faced by Roman emperors between AD 50 and 300: the dilemma of how to deal with an ideologically threatening religion whose members are model citizens:

China's rulers are said to be ambiguous about Christianity's growth. Some see its emphasis on personal morality as a force for stability. House churches which go along with the authority and theology of the official organisations are often left alone.

But many reject the party's control over Christian practice and doctrine, and these are seen as a threat. After all, 80 million members would mean there are now more Christians than Communists in China.

Further background in the sidebar article, "Converts inspired by democracy protests and western values", including examples of how some conversions to Christianity are connected to the failure of the Tiananmen protests in 1989.