China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Telegraph:

It is said to be China's biggest church and on Easter Sunday thousands of worshippers will flock to this Asian mega-temple to pledge their allegiance – not to the Communist Party, but to the Cross.

 

The 5,000-capacity Liushi church, which boasts more than twice as many seats as Westminster Abbey and a 206ft crucifix that can be seen for miles around, opened last year with one theologian declaring it a "miracle that such a small town was able to build such a grand church".

 

The £8 million building is also one of the most visible symbols of Communist China's breakneck conversion as it evolves into one of the largest Christian congregations on earth.

 

"It is a wonderful thing to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It gives us great confidence," beamed Jin Hongxin, a 40-year-old visitor who was admiring the golden cross above Liushi's altar in the lead up to Holy Week.

 

"If everyone in China believed in Jesus then we would have no more need for police stations. There would be no more bad people and therefore no more crime," she added.

 

Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country but that is changing fast as many of its 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism nor capitalism seem to have supplied.

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China's Christian Revolution?

[Valin]

China’s Exploding Christian Population Still Facing Persecution
Bob Fu
April 22, 2014

China is like a sleeping lion, Napoleon is reported to have said. “When she wakes, she will shake the world.” And we have seen this prescient 19th-century observation come true. After occupation, division, isolation, famine, and plenty, the nation has definitely awakened. Sometimes Americans are confused about how exactly to perceive modern China. Is it a military threat? How do we deal with their currency manipulation? Is it immoral to purchase products made in China? While the politicians debate these issues, something is brewing in China that could change everything: Christianity.

(Snip)

The Gospel Coalition put these numbers into perspective:

 

 

With 1.351 billion people in the country, Christians comprise only 5 percent of the country. If current trends hold, in 2030 Christians in China will make up almost 9 percent of the total population. While the ratio of Christians to population would still be small, the total numbers are astounding. By mid-century, China may have more citizens who identify as Christians than the United States has citizens.

 

 

This is exciting news indeed. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that new Chinese Christians are forced to live out their faith in a hostile environment. Though the government does not ban the Christian faith outright, it attempts to strangle it through official, government-sponsored churches, church-activity restrictions, prohibiting the printing of Bibles, monitoring the activities of religious leaders, and tearing down church buildings and crosses. Routinely, Christians are imprisoned, tortured, and killed for handing out religious tracts, founding house churches, speaking out against forced abortion, and even criticizing the government. (In fact, my wife Heidi and I were both imprisoned there for such criminal activity before we escaped.)

 

(Snip)