PERSECUTED CHINESE SEEK HELP

PERSECUTED CHINESE SEEK HELP

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January 27, 1999 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Churches in China are divided into two broad categories in relation to the communist government: (1) Government registered and regulated churches, and (2) Unregistered "house churches." The unregistered churches are persecuted, though officials representing the registered churches frequently deny this. Last September a group of 12 persecuted church leaders published an appeal documenting governmental abuse and seeking reform. The appeal was given to American journalists. All of the church leaders who signed the document have been imprisoned for their faith. They called on the communist regime "to admit to God's great power" and to release fellow Christians from prisons or work camps (Mark O’Keefe, The Oregonian, Sept. 11, 1998).

"Those in registered, government-approved churches say this is a golden era for religious freedom in China, evidenced by standing-room-only worship services and the printing of millions of Bibles in Chinese. But many in the house church movement, including the leaders at the secret gathering, say they have no freedom and are, in fact, severely persecuted. They fear the worst is yet to come" (Ibid.).

The Chinese government claims there are 10 million Christians in the registered churches. House church leaders cite 80 million.

The communists often persecute the house churches by labeling them "cults."

Replying to the document alleging widespread and harsh persecution, Shen Cheng-en, associate general secretary of the China Christian Council, said: "I don't think persecution is everywhere. It may be somewhere, but it's not everywhere. That's not the policy of the central government. The policy of the central government is to ensure religious freedom. It's written in the constitution. If there is persecution anywhere, it's unlawful and illegal."

This is the standard and deceptive communist party line. Registered church leaders in China have sold out to the communist government for decades. Many ecumenical church leaders in North America have likewise sold out to the communist party line. For decades Billy Graham has spoken highly of the alleged religious liberties behind the iron and bamboo curtains and has refused to condemn the communists plainly for persecuting unregistered churches. Graham’s sons are following in his footsteps. Billy’s son, Nelson, president of East Gates Ministries, said the house churches represent only a very small minority of Christians in China. He condemned the document produced by the 12 house church leaders as demonstrating "political naivete" and called it a "rather blunt instrument that does not foster dialogue." He ignored the fact that the church leaders in question have been imprisoned for their faith and obviously know much more about the true situation regarding religious freedom in China than any foreigner could.

THREE SELF/ CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL/ RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS BUREAU

In the 1950s, the Chinese communist government began pushing the "three self" movement as a means of pressuring the churches to break all ties with the Christians outside of China. The "Three Self" movement supposedly stood for "self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating." That is a good description of a biblical church, but this is not what the communists meant by the term. Like their friends the theological modernists, the communists are masters of changing the definition of good words. Their emphasis was on disassociation from foreign influence, which was labeled imperialism, and submission to the communist government. If it were honestly named, it would not be the Three Self movement, it would be the Three Communist movement, because the object is not "self government" but communist government of the churches.

"The Communist government organized the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) to control religion. In 1951 the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) was organized under the control of the RAB to direct the affairs of the Protestant churches. All churches were to be brought under the control of the TSPM. and detailed files were kept on all church leaders and their activities. By 1958 the churches were firmly under the government's control. Christian leaders who refused to submit to the TSPM were publicly accused and sentenced to prison. At the Shanghai Conference in 1981 it was stated, 'To be anti-TSPM is to be anti-government, for religion must be organized and under control.' It is evident that the government controls the TSPM and that the TSPM seeks to control all the churches in China. They designate what buildings can be used for church services, which pastors can preach, and what areas can be traveled to spread religion. The TSPM has recently called on the Public Security Bureau to close the meetings of the house churches, arrest the house church leaders, and arrest traveling evangelists. The clergy in the Three-Self churches are all on the government payroll, and their salaries are much higher than the average wage earner in China" (Gary Hart, "History of the Three-Self Movement in China," Faith for the Family, April 1986).

K.H. TING

The man in charge of the Three-Self movement and the China Christian Council from its inception was K.H. TING, who recently retired from his position. Ting was also head of the Nanjing Theological Seminary. He is a communist puppet and a theological modernist.

If Ting and the other China Christian Council leaders truly cared for the souls of the multiplied millions of Chinese who have not heard the Gospel, they would rejoice at EVERY effort made by EVERY true Christian from ANY PART of the world to preach Christ in China. Instead, they have continually ranted against Christian broadcasts coming from outside China. They have ranted against those who have tried to smuggle Bibles into that needy land. They have ranted against fellow Chinese from Hong Kong and Singapore who have attempted to preach the Gospel in China. They have claimed the authority to control all Christian work in that vast country.

After the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead He repeatedly gave the command to go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature and baptize and disciple those who believe. The book of Acts describes how this is to be fulfilled -- by preaching the Gospel to every community and planting churches wherever the gospel is received. In the account of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, the Lord Jesus Christ first says, "All power is given unto me." He then commands His disciples to go and teach all nations. Thus we have the authority of the very Son of God to go into every nation and preach, baptize, and plant churches. That includes China. For the China Christian Council to pretend to have the authority to rule over all evangelistic, missionary work in China is blasphemous usurpation of Christ's position as Head of the churches and Lord of the Harvest.

SOME HARD FACTS ABOUT THE CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL AND THE THREE-SELF MOVEMENT

During the 1980s, the China Christian Council (CCC) implemented the "Ten Don'ts," which were ten rules for the churches. These included such things as forbidding young people under eighteen to attend worship services, forbidding night time gatherings, forbidding the reception of overseas Christians, and forbidding any preaching from the book of Revelation. "Local Christian meetings which refused to register with TSPM or the Religious Affairs Bureau were systematically closed, and itinerant preachers who refused to join the TSPM were either arrested or made fugitives. Even today unregistered meetings are considered illegal. Privately published books and Bibles, mimeographed by house church leaders, have been confiscated by local authorities and used in court as evidence of producing and distributing 'anti-revolutionary' materials" (Jonathan Chao, "How Evangelical Is the Three-Self People's Movement, Chinese Church Research Institute, 1985).

The communist Three-Self movement not only attempted to restrict foreign missionary work in China, it attempted to force the end of denominational doctrinal divisions. K.H. Ting calls this new era "the post-denominational period in the history of the Church in China," and "instead of denominational services, united services are held in the different churches." This sounds like something Promise Keepers would be excited about. During our missionary years in Nepal and India, I subscribed to many of the Indian publications and followed the ecumenical movement there. I frequently read glowing reports of K.H. Ting and the China Christian Council in the liberal ecumenical Indian press. For example, a group of representatives of the National Council of Churches of India visited China in 1986 and brought back high praise for Ting and the attempts by the Chinese communists to control the churches. One of the members of the tour was Paulos Mar Gregorios, Metropolitan of the Orthodox Syrian Church and one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches. Gregorios gloried in the fact that there was emerging "one Christian church" in China. He referred, of course, to the liberal, ecumenical, apostate "church" which is represented by the China Christian Council. (National Christian Council Review, Church of South India, Sept. 1986).

The March 1981 issue of Tian Feng, the official voice of the Three Self movement, reprinted a message by K.H. Ting, in which he made the following statement: "We want to declare before the whole world: church and evangelistic work inside China is the right and responsibility of our Chinese Church; no people outside China, regardless of the color of their skin, should carry on any activity of a missionary nature inside China or directed at China, without the expressed consent of Chinese Church authorities."

Ting studied at the infamously liberal Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1947-49), and he is a thorough-going modernist, denying that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Ting became president of the China Christian Council's Nanjing Seminary, and turned it into a hotbed of theological heresy. Ting is a universalist, who believes there is light in all religions. In a lecture on September 23, 1984, at Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University, Tokyo, under the sponsorship of the Anglican-Episcopal Church of Japan, Ting said we should reject the type of arrogance Jonah had toward the Ninevites. Instead, "We should welcome any and every move Godward on the part of men and women, no matter how slight" (K.H. Ting, "Theological Mass Movements in China," International Bulletin of Missionary Research, July 1985, p. 98). In the same speech, Ting said we should see the logos (the Word in John 1:1) in every man. He denied that there will be a judgment upon sinful mankind. He praised liberation theology, which replaces the salvation of the individual sinner with the salvation of society.

Ting has always referred to the Chinese dictator Mao and his murdering hoards as "liberators of China." He refers to the 1949 revolution as China's liberation. In a speech in 1980, Ting said: "New China is the people's China. It exists for the broad masses of the people. It has brought liberation, benefits and happiness to its people. It is revolutionary and progressive" (K.H. Ting, "Retrospect and Prospect," October 6, 1980; Tian Feng, March, 1981; reprinted in the Chinese Theological Review, pp. 1-17). In an interview with the Christian Century for February 23, 1977, K.H. Ting's wife, who taught at the Nanjing Seminary, stated, "We love Chairman Mao for all he has taught us," and, "As Christians we do not see Christianity and socialist China as opposed to each other. It is God working, whether in his name or not." China's communist leader Mao Tse Tung established one of the most brutal dictatorships under the sun. Not only did he take away the basic human liberties of the Chinese people, he was directly responsible for the murder of millions.

Studies at the modernistic Nanjing Seminary are permeated with Marxist philosophy. They include classes in socialism and international Communism. "A Western observer who visited the Union Seminary and interacted with students reports that the course on the history of Christianity in China vilified all major Protestant missionaries. Apart from the regular courses, occasional courses on Jews in Chinese History (in which Jews were attacked as capitalists, etc.) Theological Abstracts, and Evolution of Theology in China ('rethinking' theology to fit Marxist philosophy) were also offered, as were courses on comparative religious studies in China, government, religious policy, and 'questions most commonly asked by foreign visitors'--public relations training enabling students to correctly answer those from outside China" (May Cheng, "Theological Education in China," China and the Church Today, October, 1985, p. 12).

The China Christian Council has been happy to receive foreign funds. It created the Amity Foundation in 1984 as a channel for such funds. Foreign entities such as the United Bible Societies and the Southern Baptist Convention have supported Amity. Even personnel from foreign organizations have been welcome, AS LONG AS THEY ARE WILLING TO WORK UNDER THE COUNCIL'S "AUTHORITY." The CCC has continually lashed out, though, against "Christian groups overseas which use language teaching or the offer of technical assistance as a cover for their clandestine activities" (EPS, 16-20 February 1987).

Independent churches in China continue to be persecuted today. Pastors are jailed because they refuse to buckle under the China Christian Council's "authority" and regulations. All the while, the leaders of the CCC continue to lie to the world, claiming there is no (or very little) persecution, that there is religious liberty in China.