The Church in China in the 20th Century - Chen Zemin

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guidance of the Holy Spirit, we, holding fast to the biblical principle of Three-Self—for we believe that this principle is not an invention of our own, but has sound biblical and theological basis and has been ever at work throughout the historical development of world Christianity—we have made some headway for which we are grateful. The road has not been straight and easy. There have been zigzags and obstacles, and misunderstandings both among ourselves and from the outside. We have committed blunders and made corrections. During the chaotic decade called “cultural revolution,” which was in reality culturally destructive and politically counterrevolutionary in nature and effect, almost all traces of organized religions, not just Christianity, seemed to be cleanly wiped out. But God works creatively even in the demonic forces. The purging turned out to be a fiery chastening process and had its educational effects. We have learned how to recognize and avoid the evils of ultra-leftism. Order was finally restored and the Party and Government returned to the right interpretation and implementation of the policy of religious freedom. The faithful and steadfast emerged afresh with rejuvenescent vitality and new visions. The year 1979 marked the beginning of a second phase of the Three-Self Movement. Since then we have been working on the holy task of rebuilding the house of the Lord. The heart-warming promise and mandate of Haggai that “the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former” (2:9) has been beckoning and prompting us forward.

      Now, what have we done and accomplished in the last thirty-four years? Bishop K. H. Ting, Chairman of the National Three-Self Patriotic Committee and President of the China Christian Council, in his opening address before the Third Chinese National Christian Conference in September, 1980, summed up the accomplishments of the preceding phase of thirty years of endeavor in the following three points. I shall dwell but briefly on these.

      First, we have accomplished in making Chinese Christians patriotic Chinese. Before and shortly after the liberation, many Chinese Christians had become victims to the alienating indoctrination and anti-communist propaganda of their Western “mentors,” and took faithfulness to God and loyalty to the Church incomparably higher over against or even incompatible with the love of one’s country. The contradiction had become more acute when they thought that the country was to be ruled by atheist communists, whom they took to be Satan, the sworn enemy of Christ. After liberation, however, innumerable undeniable facts and personal experiences convinced many honest Christians that under the leadership of the Communist Party new China is far, far better than it had ever been before; that the party was really working for the welfare of the people, with a spirit of self-sacrifice that put many a sincere Christian to shame; that the Party was advocating in theory and practice a policy of religious freedom. But some die-hard anti-communist Christians were still unreconciled and advanced theological arguments like posing “life,” by which they meant a mystical, esoteric, undefinable “union with Christ,” against the moral and rational discernment between good and evil, or right and wrong; or insisting upon the doctrine of total depravity of all men and the futility and sinfulness of any human effort towards betterment of human society; or interpreting pre-millennialism with an overtone that New China, however good and welcome by the Chinese people, was doomed to be short-lived and would soon be totally destroyed at the second coming of Christ. All these set the serious Christians to think and rethink. There arose a nation-wide mass theological movement involving both rank-and-file believers and church leaders. I shall not go into the loci theologici and arguments. Bishop Ting is making an analysis of this theological movement in one of his addresses here in Japan. The overall effect, in short, was that the contradiction or dilemma between love of the Church and love of the mother-land was resolved in a unity on a sound biblical and theological basis. Now a favorite slogan prevailing among Chinese Christians is “爱国爱教, 荣神益人.” (Love the country and love the church; glorify God and benefit men).

      Secondly, we have succeeded in changing the countenance of Christianity in China. With the withdrawal of missionaries and cutting off of foreign funds after 1950, the Chinese church was left to the Chinese Christians, to sink or swim, willy-nilly. So in a sense the necessity of Three-Self was forced upon us by the specific political situation. But it was through the persisting enlightening and endeavours of pioneering leaders like Dr. Y. T. Wu and others that it became a conscious and organized mass movement. The convening of the First Chinese Christian Conference in 1954, which gave rise to the National Three-Self Patriotic Committee, was an important milestone. Since then we have gradually changed the countenance of Christianity from yangjiao (foreign religion) into a church self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating with more and more Chinese characteristics.

      Thirdly, these two accomplishments had led to another, namely, a gradual change of public opinion and impression of the people regarding Chinese Christians and the church. We have identified ourselves with the people and taken part in the struggle of constructing an independent new socialist China, sharing the weal and woe in the vicissitudes of national development. We are taken in by our fellow-countrymen. Many church members have done good deeds and made outstanding contributions in their jobs. More and more people have realized that Christians too are good Chinese citizens and that Christianity is a religion which Chinese citizens are fully entitled to believe and uphold by their own choice. We have won the recognition, sympathy and respect of the broad masses of people as an autonomous Chinese church. Thus new and greater opportunities have opened to us to witness our faith and for the light of the Gospel to shine forth in this country.

      Now, let me relate to you some features of the present-day Chinese Protestant Church.

      First, there has been a remarkable church growth since the last five years. There is no exact statistics. A conservative estimate of church members and enquirers is over three million. It means an increase of about four times over the total before 1949. In September 1979 two churches were re-opened in Ningpo (宁波) and Shanghai, the first to break the ice, about three years after the downfall of the “gang of four.” Since then according to the latest report there are more than eighteen hundred churches reopened or set up anew. This amounts to an average rate of one church a day over the whole period. By a “church” here I mean a permanent church building set apart for worship services and other religious activities, with a fairly consistent congregation administered by one or more pastors or preachers. These churches are located mostly in cities and towns. There are sixteen churches in Shanghai including the suburban counties, and three in Guangzhou. The size of the congregation varies from a couple of hundred to several thousands, about one quarter to one third being young people. In larger churches it is often necessary to hold two or more sessions of Sunday services to avoid overcrowding. If we take the average size of a congregation as one thousand, it leaves more than two million Christians to handle. So there are thousands or maybe tens of thousands of what we call “assembly points” (聚会点), i.e., meetings held in homes or other places than a conventional church building. These “points” are mostly scattered in the rural areas, but you will often find some in cities also, distributed according to geographic accessibility. The size of a “point” varies from some twenty or thirty to several hundreds. They are usually administered by lay leaders, most of them depend upon the city or county churches for guidance and assistance, such as supply of Bibles, hymnals, Christian literature, and the administering of baptism and communion services, etc. In remote places they are left to their own discretion and devices. This explains the uneven development in the level of Christian nurture, and, as in some places, susceptibility to deviations, heretical contamination and anti-China infiltrations from abroad. These we lump up as “abnormalities.” This is an understandable phenomenon when the rate of increase of believers outstrips the process of reopening churches, which involves much more than taking back and repairing church buildings.

      How to account for this rapid growth? Many explanations have been advanced. I think, however, most basic of all it is due to: (1) the Three-Self Patriotic Movement with the three main accomplishments mentioned above; (2) the overall implementation of religious policy on the part of the Party and the government, though not without obstacles and problems. As to the latent and perennial spiritual yearnings and need beyond the material and mundane in man, I shall for the present leave to theologians and sociologists and psychologists of religion. The Holy Spirit is always at work and we can but offer our prayers and thanks to God for His blessings and guidance.

      Secondly, we have entered into a post-denominational stage. This has come about

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