In the face of an ongoing Communist crackdown, pastors in China have
vowed to continue preaching the Gospel, even if it costs them their
lives.
Aaron Ma, a representative of Open Doors' Ministry in China, told The Christian Post in an email on Thursday that the watchdog group has so far heard of one case of Bible burning in the country.
"In this case, the authority confiscated belongings of the churches (including Bibles) and burnt them all," Ma said.
The incident, where Communist Party officials burned Bibles and crosses in Henan, was captured on video and shared online earlier this month by activists, including ChinaAid President Bob Fu, whose group monitors the persecution of believers in China.
Concern has also risen over instances where state officials have been forcing some Christians to sign papers rejecting their faith.
Ma relayed information from local Chinese pastors who revealed that the people pressured to sign such papers are secondary school students.
"They are tempted [and] threatened not to admit their Christian faith in order to avoid trouble. Their Christian faith is being challenged and tested," the Open Doors representative explained.
As for how much weight such renunciation papers carry, and whether the believers who sign them are indeed considered to have left Christianity, he said:
"Whether they would leave the Christian faith would depend on how their pastors, and brothers and sisters in churches guide and encourage them to re-build their faith."
Ma noted that the circumstances leading to the increasing crackdown on churches in recent years has been building for decades.
While the country has had different religious regulations to manage religious activities, since the Open Policy on economic development in the 1980s, enforcement of such regulation had been loosened.
Ma said the regulations have led to more cases of shutting down churches, confiscation of church property, and the growing threat of landlords refusing to lease premises for church meetings.
Ma said that Chinese Christians have "different kinds of fear."
"For example, pastors may fear their believers may not be able to stand strong under this wave of persecution," he continued.
"Youth Christians and their parents under the threat of being tempted to renounce faith on paper probably fear about their future (before this wave of persecution, youth Christians face a lot of struggles under this materialistic society)."
He suggested that churches can keep a low profile and avoid involving foreign parties in a significant way in their ministries in order to escape attracting the attention of authorities.
The Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith, as the letter is called, condemned China's persecution of believers, and insisted that Christians will continue teaching the Bible regardless of what they face.
"We declare that in matters of external conduct, churches are willing to accept lawful oversight by civil administration or other government departments as other social organizations do," the declaration stated.
"But under no circumstances will we lead our churches to join a religious organization controlled by the government, to register with the religious administration department, or to accept any kind of affiliation," it continued.
"We also will not accept any 'ban' or 'fine' imposed on our churches due to our faith. For the sake of the Gospel, we are prepared to bear all losses — even the loss of our freedom and our lives."
CP
Aaron Ma, a representative of Open Doors' Ministry in China, told The Christian Post in an email on Thursday that the watchdog group has so far heard of one case of Bible burning in the country.
"In this case, the authority confiscated belongings of the churches (including Bibles) and burnt them all," Ma said.
The incident, where Communist Party officials burned Bibles and crosses in Henan, was captured on video and shared online earlier this month by activists, including ChinaAid President Bob Fu, whose group monitors the persecution of believers in China.
Concern has also risen over instances where state officials have been forcing some Christians to sign papers rejecting their faith.
Ma relayed information from local Chinese pastors who revealed that the people pressured to sign such papers are secondary school students.
"They are tempted [and] threatened not to admit their Christian faith in order to avoid trouble. Their Christian faith is being challenged and tested," the Open Doors representative explained.
As for how much weight such renunciation papers carry, and whether the believers who sign them are indeed considered to have left Christianity, he said:
"Whether they would leave the Christian faith would depend on how their pastors, and brothers and sisters in churches guide and encourage them to re-build their faith."
Ma noted that the circumstances leading to the increasing crackdown on churches in recent years has been building for decades.
While the country has had different religious regulations to manage religious activities, since the Open Policy on economic development in the 1980s, enforcement of such regulation had been loosened.
Ma said the regulations have led to more cases of shutting down churches, confiscation of church property, and the growing threat of landlords refusing to lease premises for church meetings.
Ma said that Chinese Christians have "different kinds of fear."
"For example, pastors may fear their believers may not be able to stand strong under this wave of persecution," he continued.
"Youth Christians and their parents under the threat of being tempted to renounce faith on paper probably fear about their future (before this wave of persecution, youth Christians face a lot of struggles under this materialistic society)."
He suggested that churches can keep a low profile and avoid involving foreign parties in a significant way in their ministries in order to escape attracting the attention of authorities.
The Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith, as the letter is called, condemned China's persecution of believers, and insisted that Christians will continue teaching the Bible regardless of what they face.
"We declare that in matters of external conduct, churches are willing to accept lawful oversight by civil administration or other government departments as other social organizations do," the declaration stated.
"But under no circumstances will we lead our churches to join a religious organization controlled by the government, to register with the religious administration department, or to accept any kind of affiliation," it continued.
"We also will not accept any 'ban' or 'fine' imposed on our churches due to our faith. For the sake of the Gospel, we are prepared to bear all losses — even the loss of our freedom and our lives."
CP
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