Posted on 10/19/2013 8:58:48 AM PDT by WXRGina
I recently bought a new Bible at my local Christian book store. I wanted to have something less bulky than my old study Bibles — something convenient in size for taking to church. Plus, the version I had been using was different from the version usually read in church, so looked for something in the right size, right translation, and hopefully in the right price range.
What I found fit all my requirements. Or so I thought at the time. It came in a sealed paper and plastic package that prevented me from leafing through it before I purchased it, but the outside of the package showed a sample of the actual print size, and it looked fine to me.
After opening it, my first use of it was to look up Scripture verses in church. During my daily Bible reading I had been reading through the Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. But when I finished Revelation I decided to start my next read-through at Genesis in my new Bible. That’s when I decided to read the stuff that precedes “In the beginning” — you know, the table of contents, the preface, etc.
That’s when I saw it… “Printed in China”. I was stunned. At first I was exasperated at the very idea that almost everything we buy nowadays is made in China. Then I thought about it some more. “Wait,” I thought. “Isn’t it illegal to print Bibles in China?”
I did a search for “bibles printed in China” and found articles like this one which I found eye-opening:
First off, China is the world’s largest producer of Bibles. That in itself isn’t earth-shattering. After all, China’s population is the largest in the world, and the last I heard, China was responsible for half of all manufacturing in the world. But most of the Bibles China prints are for distribution outside China. Now, that’s interesting.
Another interesting factoid is that the only place where Bibles may be legally sold in China is at the officially approved churches. But Christians in rural areas are unable to buy Bibles. Outside those approved churches, Bibles are not otherwise made available to the general public. And under the repressive Communist regime, bulk purchases for groups of believers are not done. The government wants all Christians “registered”. So, in China, Bible ownership is kind of like gun ownership is in the U.S. Most Chinese Christians belong to unregistered churches and are unable to obtain Bibles, short of a small number smuggled into the country.
Something else that might make you go “Hmmm…” is the fact that only one publisher is legally approved to print and distribute Bibles in all of China — Amity Press. So, what’s up with my new Bible? It wasn’t published by Amity. It was published by Crossway, whose address is in Wheaton, Illinois. Does Crossway have a sweetheart deal with Amity? Or does China allow other printers to print Bibles in China as long as those Bibles are only intended for distribution outside China?
This situation is a moral outrage on two levels. First of all, that the Chinese enterprise of printing Bibles — the largest in the world — is specifically designed to keep Bibles out of the hands of some Christians, and secondly, that unwitting Christians all over the world — mostly in America — are underwriting this injustice. Not only people like me who are buying these Bibles, but bookstores, distributors and especially the publishers themselves are culpable for their financial support of China’s repressive system.
Is this just business as usual? Is this just a blip on the screen in the otherwise rosy picture of the global economy? I for one don’t think so. I don’t like it, and I don’t think Christians anywhere should put up with it. Before I read “Printed in China”, I simply wasn’t aware. But now, I want to see where my Bible or Christian book is printed before I buy it. The next time you’re shopping for a Bible or any Christian printed material, check to see where it was printed. If it says, “Printed in China” don’t buy it. If you’re shopping on line and can’t look yourself, ask the vender before you shell out your money.
If “Printed in China” is a moral outrage to you, then please join the Bible boycott. Contact the venders and publishers you deal with and let them know that since you’re free to buy a Bible, all the people in China should be free to do the same. A government that restricts Bible distribution does not deserve any financial support of its economy from Christians. Until China changes its church registration and Bible sales laws, boycott their Bibles!
Real Christianity is exploding in China. People are coming to know Christ and not just searching for the church with the best amenities as our “seekers” are doing in America.
Look at it this way: if they print a gazillion bibles in China, how many get “scrapped” and scratched from the inventory or how many cases fall off the trucks on their way to the ports? How many get smuggled out of the factories each day?
As a side note...China will eventually override the US for consumer...they will not only manufacture Bibles...they will be able to buy them....China cannot reach it’s International Goals without opening itself up...and it will.
Yes, I thought of that, too, but that doesn’t excuse American distributors—by that, I mean “Christian” companies like Crossway, not secular—that are getting a better deal in China with these Bibles.
Everything is made in China these days. Working Americans don’t make enough money to afford products made by Americans. This is the proof that our economy is functionally dead and is propped up by credit only.
I only use electronic bibles these days, but read them on my Chinese-made iPad.
If we want to get Chinese manufacturing out of our country, we need to address the root cause of the problem: low wages for Americans and a system where workers are not considered to be “producers” by the money class.
Remember the Doolittle Raiders!
Christianity is making a huge comeback in China.
It’s not illegal but is under complete Communist Party control.
And, the printing of books in English is not much of a concern. Chinese people can’t read English. (Can’t read actual Chinese, either, but that’s a different issue).
If they were printing Bibles in Simplified Chinese, the government there would have a problem with that. But making money off foreigners is not a problem.
The gazillion Bibles are in a foreign language. The people in China can’t read them.
Your idea is a good one, but they do not print a gazillion Bibles in Chinese.
Regular Chinese people still often have to have Bibles that are illegally smuggled to them.
Very good point—about English language printing. It’s Babel to them.
The deeper root cause is the spiritual, moral decay of the American culture and system in general.
You can walk into many large bookstores in China and buy a Bible - in Chinese.
I know quite a few Christians in China - people who are bureaucrats, artists, teachers. Christian beliefs do not have to be hidden, and the general population has high respect for the moral teachings and social actions of Christians.
That’s not to say the Chinese Government isn’t watching and controlling - they indeed are. As true leftists, their concern is 100% about politics - they fear the point where Christian morality and God’s law run contrary to State schemes and laws. Do not be smug though - because the US Government and many of our leftist, statist politicians here in the USA have the same fear and controlling instincts - although for now, they can not act as aggressively as China does.
Hand-in-glove with Government oppression, Christianity faces a moral vacuum and ultra-materialist, indifferent society in China. Many in China are attracted to Christianity because of this, but many more have simply accepted “the void” left by decades and generations of leftist, amoral, atheistic doctrine.
Try these. Best ENGLISH bibles printed and bound!
Don’t order the hymn books. They are printed by contract for a certain legalistic sect only.
Yes, of course. Our government has been taken over by communists. It is complete power and control of the people and the wealth of the nation they seek, and they will not stop until they get it.
I agree. I fail to see the point of the author's outrage. I'm glad they are printing Bibles in China!
>>Your idea is a good one, but they do not print a gazillion Bibles in Chinese.
Chinese learn English. Its in their schools and reading the bible in English helps.
>>The deeper root cause is the spiritual, moral decay of the American culture and system in general.
That root cause is because work and sacrifice is no longer a virtue in the US. So, how can people identify with a God-became-man who lived a life of poverty and died for others with no payment? 47% looks at someone like Jesus as a sap, a person to be exploited. Many of them may go to church, sing the songs, and say “Amen” a lot, but they completely ignore his ministry. They love to proclaim “I’ve been saved” but they never lift a finger to show how that grace is working in them.
The wealthy are no better. They give lots of money to make sure their church is a temple to money and excess. Then, they go to work on Monday and figure out ways to cut their employee’s compensation or to get more from the customer while giving less.
The Chinese are far better Christians than most Americans.
Again—in general, across the board, the soul of America is spiritually and morally corrupt. All the other “diseases” flow from there. It doesn’t matter a whit what any man thinks of Jesus, or how many people are not good “Christians,” because it does not take away from Who He is (let God be true and every man a liar). He saves those who turn to Him, no matter what country they live in.
>>Again—in general, across the board, the soul of America is spiritually and morally corrupt. All the other “diseases” flow from there. It doesn’t matter a whit what any man thinks of Jesus, or how many people are not good “Christians,” because it does not take away from Who He is (let God be true and every man a liar). He saves those who turn to Him, no matter what country they live in.
Right, and people don’t identify with him in the US. We identify with wealth, power, and materialism. His message does not resonate with most Americans anymore. Its not his fault. Its entirely ours. But, you can’t create a spiritual revival unless people NEED him. Without a sense of genuine and desperate need, all you can do is create marketing programs. And they all fail.
In the church, we keep telling ourselves that “America needs a revival”. That’s true, but Americans don’t agree. They have ample food, HD TV, iPhones, 300 hp cars, unlimited clothing, and a sense of entitlement and invulnerability. They still hurt, but think that a pill or an hour with a shrink will fix that. Or maybe some wild sex with a stranger, or a new boat. Even when they turn to Christ, many of them give him one hour on Sunday and a $20 bill that is neatly folded four times so no one knows what it is.
Yep!
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