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Jesus in China (2008)- China's underground churches.
PBS Frontline ^ | 6/23/2008 | Evan Osnos

Posted on 09/06/2010 4:19:58 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles

Christianity is growing in China, filling the vacuum of atheism. Officially, churches are allowed - but only with ministers trained by the state. Un-official churches are persecuted by the state. The video is 25 minutes long and provides an excellent insight into everyday China. From 2008.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: china; religion

1 posted on 09/06/2010 4:20:02 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles
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To: GunsAndBibles

Hotlink:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1092332047/#


2 posted on 09/06/2010 4:20:32 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles
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To: GunsAndBibles

What the Chinese “Ceasers” don’t understand is that once Christ enters the cracks it will never go away.

The state churches (with their government sermons) are no match for the “fire of truth”.

St. Paul would be impressed with the underground churches and would admonish the the government churches.


3 posted on 09/06/2010 4:33:12 PM PDT by ak267
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To: ak267

I’ve seen estimates of the number of Christians from 80 million to 150 million, or more that 10% of the population.


4 posted on 09/06/2010 4:40:36 PM PDT by Forgiven_Sinner (If you meet people with no brain, no heart and no courage, you are not in KS-You are in the Congress)
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To: GunsAndBibles

Soon China will be sending missionaries to the US.


5 posted on 09/06/2010 4:56:10 PM PDT by dartuser ("Palin 2012 ... nothing else will do.")
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To: dartuser

DC would be a good address for the folks to start their outreach to the lost and unsaved....


6 posted on 09/06/2010 5:19:14 PM PDT by pointsal
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To: GunsAndBibles

I am proud to know several Chinese Christian individuals who attend home churches in China.


7 posted on 09/06/2010 5:25:27 PM PDT by saltshaker
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To: dartuser

Then I would say the world will be saved!


8 posted on 09/06/2010 5:35:01 PM PDT by cameraeye (A happy kufir!)
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To: dartuser

You may be right, and there are certainly plenty of “party members” here in the US who would benefit from some God time. That would be a hoot if China started exporting faith.


9 posted on 09/06/2010 5:35:18 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles
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To: saltshaker

It’s a phenomena I just became aware of a year or so ago. Sure doesn’t get a lot of coverage in our MSM.


10 posted on 09/06/2010 5:37:52 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles
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To: GunsAndBibles

Christianity is on fire in Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, the US might as well be Russia.


11 posted on 09/06/2010 6:14:33 PM PDT by calico_thompson
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To: GunsAndBibles

I have a very dear born again Christian penpal in China. She is a real sweetheart, smart, wonderful sense of humor, devoutly Christian.

She warned me . . . some of the Christian links I send her do not pass thru the censorship gates.

It was an eye opener to see it actually happening.


12 posted on 09/06/2010 6:14:40 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (NO MOS-que AP: It's the "GROUND ZERO MOSQUE")
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To: ak267
What the Chinese “Ceasers” don’t understand is that once Christ enters the cracks it will never go away.

I think this is how they want it. Nature abhors vacuum. Islamists and other cultists have fewer chances to convert a believer than an atheist or (more likely) someone who never gave religion a thought.

The requirement for state-approved priests probably comes from experience with religions like Falun Gong. Christianity is a safe, established belief which isn't going to change overnight. Chinese rulers know that a bishop is not likely to hack into a satellite or release sarin gas into a subway system, or to commit a "revolutionary suicide".

13 posted on 09/06/2010 6:17:46 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: GunsAndBibles
It’s a phenomena I just became aware of a year or so ago. Sure doesn’t get a lot of coverage in our MSM.

Based on how the MSM seems to despise Christianity, I'm not sure them not covering is such a bad thing. I doubt they could do the underground church any good at all. They could even be putting them at risk.
14 posted on 09/06/2010 6:50:23 PM PDT by tenger (If u hav integrity, nothing else matters. If u don't hav integrity, nothing else matters -Simpson(R))
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To: Greysard

Not exactly. True, they approve of the state-controlled churches since they can control the message (just like in Europe which in time kills enthusiasm and leads to apathy when the masses realize the BS). It’s the underground churches that has got them in a wad. The underground churches are the ones which are growing.

Even the state controlled churches run the risk of getting “rotted” from other Christian voices. It’s in the shadows at first, but it grows.

Jesus Christ vs ruthless dictatorship.....sound familiar? Rome dismissed the Christians as just another cult, but in time it conquered an empire.

When the state tries to become the spiritual authority, it eventually backfires. The message often becomes “lacking” and frequently contradics the gospel.


15 posted on 09/06/2010 7:14:38 PM PDT by ak267
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To: tenger
Based on how the MSM seems to despise Christianity, I'm not sure them not covering is such a bad thing. I doubt they could do the underground church any good at all. They could even be putting them at risk.

You make an excellent point; however, it would be highly gratifying to point out to our secular human agnostic/atheists here in the US that young people raised in the communist worker's paradise of China found a void in their lives - and sought out God. Even better, is that they chose the path of Christ.

16 posted on 09/06/2010 7:26:36 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles
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To: TigerLikesRooster; little jeremiah

If I’m not mistaken, China has been increasingly not enforcing its laws and turning a blind eye to this trend.


17 posted on 09/06/2010 7:27:37 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Obama's more worried about Israelis building houses than he is about Islamists building atomic bombs)
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