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China Refutes Distortions about Christianity
2004-03-09 12:58
          An official with China's Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement has
          refuted the argument made by some people in the West in their
          wrongful attack against China's system and practice of Christianity.
         
         
          He said these Westerners regard China's Christian Three-Self
          Patriotic Movement as an organization established by the government
          to control the development of Christianity.
         
          "This (argument) totally twists the facts, and is a kind of
          malicious distortion," the official said.
         
          The movement, which advocates self-administration, self-support and
          self-propagation among the Protestant churches in China, is a
          patriotic movement formed spontaneously by Chinese Christians who
          sought to defend themselves against the invasion and bullying of
          colonialists and imperialists in the early days, according to the
          official.
         
          The official cited a series of facts to show a number of foreign
          missionaries had made use of religion to serve the interest of
          colonialism and imperialism.
         
          In the 19th century, British missionary Robert Morrison and German
          missionary Karl Friedrich Gutzlaff had, at separate times, worked in
          the East-India Company and participated in selling opium to the
          Chinese people.
         
          John Robert Morrison, the son of Robert Morrison, and Karl Friedrich
          Gutzlaff took part in the Opium War, the invasion of China which was
          launched by Britain in 1840, and took part in the drafting and
          signing of the unequal "Nanking Treaty," which forced China to cede
          Hong Kong.
         
          American missionaries Peter Parker and Elijah Brielgman were
          involved in the drafting and signing of the unequal "Wangxia Treaty"
          between China and the United States in 1844.
         
          During the Second Opium War, missionaries Samuel Wells Williams and
          William Alexander Parson Martin were responsible for the
          "Sino-American Tianjin Treaty," and they covertly inserted into the
          treaty a so-called "leniency" clause which said that Chinese
          believers in Christ, like foreign believers, were not constrained by
          China's laws.
         
          In 1890, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, American
          missionary Fredrich Brown collected information and acted as a guide
          for the forces, leading the allies to overtake Beijing. For his
          efforts, he received a commendation from the commander of the allied
          forces.
         
          The official said in the 100 years after the Opium War, colonialists
          and imperialists used religion as a cover for their thirst for
          power.
         
          In that period, before the founding of New China in 1949, China was
          the recipient of the most money and missionaries from the Western
          Mission Board. But the number of Christians in the country was only
          about 700,000, according to the official.
         
          This is because the Chinese people detested the suppression of
          colonialists and imperialists, disapproved of unequal treaties, and
          viewed Christianity under the protection of the treaties as a
          "foreign religion," he said.
         
          Some patriotic and upright Christians long ago aspired to separate
          China's Christianity from the control of the Western Mission Board,
          launching the independent Christian movement around the beginning of
          the 20th century and advocating the establishment of a church by
          Chinese Christians.
         
          Chinese Christians were greatly encouraged by the founding of the
          New China in 1949, which demonstrated that the Chinese people could
          stand on their own, he official said.
         
          The All-China Federation of Young Men's Christian Association,
          backed by 1,577 religious leaders, openly publicized the "Three-Self
          Declaration" together with 40 church leaders, signifying that
          Chinese Christians were in support of the new China.
         
          The declaration advocated self-administration, self-support and
          self-propagation, meaning that the Christian organizations were to
          be run by Chinese Christians themselves, their funds to be raised by
          Chinese Christians independently, and the preaching duties in China
          to be undertaken by Chinese Christians on their own.
         
          In just less than four years, more than 400,000 Christians, or two
          thirds of the nation's total, signed the document.
         
          The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is absolutely a voluntary movement
          of Chinese Christians, the official said.
         
          According to the official in charge of the movement, Christianity
          has become a Chinese-run religion because of the 40-year Three-Self
          Patriotic Movement.
         
          The movement is very conducive to the growth of Chinese
          Christianity, and first and foremost, it has removed any obstacles
          on the way to the development of Christianity in China, he said.
         
          There are currently ten million Christians in China, more than 14
          times the number in 1949. One important reason for this is that the
          Three-Self Patriotic Movement has changed the situation of the
          churches in China, and they are no longer "foreign churches" under
          the control of foreigners.
         
          Secondly, the official said, the movement has greatly improved
          Chinese Christians' sense of responsibility for their own churches,
          he said.
         
          To date, there are some 12,000 churches and about 25,000 sites of
          congregation in China. According to the statistics of the 1990s,
          more than 600 churches are built annually. The period between 1992
          and 1996 saw the publication and circulation of nearly ten million
          Bibles. More than eight million copies of the Psalms have been
          published by the Chinese Christian Association in 1983.
         
          Thirdly, he said, a united mass is observed in Chinese Christianity.
          As they got rid of the shackles of foreign mission board, Chinese
          Christians increased their understanding and respect of each other
          in the course of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.
         
          This is in line with the Bible's teaching that all churches should
          "unite as one," he said.
         
          Fourthly, Christians are on good terms with the broad masses of
          people. Christians are part of the Chinese citizenry, and their
          mottos "Love the country, love the church, glorify the God and
          benefit the people" and "a Christian should be a good citizen" have
          become common philosophical tenets of the majority of Christians.
         
          During 1992 and 1994, some 20,000 Christians were selected as
          advanced individuals and become witnesses of the Gospel in socialist
          China, he said.
         
          The official said that the Three-Self Patriotic Movement has won the
          approval and support of the majority of the Christians in China, the
          respect of the people, and the sympathy and appreciation of many
          overseas friends.
         
          He quoted the Archbishop of Canterbury as saying in 1987 that the
          Chinese were working hard for a better future, and the Three-Self
          Patriotic Movement was aimed at ensuring that Christianity will play
          a positive role in it. the archbishop expressed his hope that no one
          shall jeopardize the movement.
         
          In addition, he stressed that each country's churches should worship
          Christ in their own language, and absorb nutrition from their own
          cultural traditions.
         
          The religious reform in Britain in the 16th century was a fight for
          the independence and autonomy of the Church of England, and resulted
          in the establishment of Anglicanism, he added, pointing out that
          this was Britain's version of a Three-Self Movement.
         
          In 1983, the National Council of the Churches of the Christ in the
          United States of America passed a statement about China, saying that
          it is based on purpose of spreading the Gospel that the Chinese
          Christians wish to expurgate the label of "foreign religions" from
          their belief and organizations.
         
          The statement said that overseas Christians should respect the
          efforts made by Chinese Christians among their own people, and
          should not try to restore the type of missionary work that prevailed
          in the past.
         
          The official pointed out that some people in the West try to revive
          colonialism and imperialism which made use of region to cover their
          aggression of China, and still want to use religion as a political
          tool against socialist China.
         
          A few of them, recklessly attack the Chinese Church which sticks to
          the Three-Self Principle, distort the facts, tell lies and even
          create stories to deceive overseas Christians, the official added.
         
          He said that Chinese Christian organizations and believers are
          firmly against such actions.


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