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A Report on Christianity in China
A Conversation with David Aikman
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Thursday, September 26, 2002
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Thursday, September 26, 2002
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David Aikman, a recent senior fellow at the EPPC and formerly a veteran foreign correspondent for Time magazine, has just returned from a three-month visit to China to investigate the overall status of Christianity in the country. He traveled several thousand miles, met representatives of both the "official" church—Catholic and Protestant—and spent many days with leaders and others in the house churches (some of which are basically underground). Aikman also spoke to several Chinese Christians who had been kidnapped by cultists from the Eastern Lightning.
Good News from China
"What is happening to Christianity in China, and what is happening to China because of Christianity?" At a September 26 seminar, Sinologist and journalist David Aikman reported that the search for answers to these two questions is what prompted his recent three-month journey "criss-crossing" China. During the trip, Aikman said, he had the advantage of special access to all sorts of underground Christian groups.
"Underground" has a variety of meanings in China, Aikman explained. While a few such groups are indeed unknown to the government, most simply lack official sanction. He described visiting some secret seminaries and a secret Christian music conservatory, but said that authorities were largely aware and often tolerant of "unrecognized" Christian groups. Despite the continuing persecution of Christian in some localities, Aikman expressed considerable optimism about the general climate: "there is no freedom of religion in China but a lot of tolerance."
China's religious landscape is changing dramatically, Aikman concluded. In the past few years, the growth of Christianity has spread from rural to urban areas; more Christians are willing to "go public"; young Christian seem particularly dedicated; and many Chinese universities have instituted courses in the Christian history of the West. China's leaders, moreover, espouse Christianity and have come to recognize its importance to the West's dynamism. No longer advocates of communist ideology, these leaders may soon admit that Christianity might also serve China well.
Center vice president Michael Cromartie moderated the conversation that followed. Several participants challenged Aikman about "the lack of horror stories."
Speakers:
Participants List:
George Archibald, Washington Times Kelli Arena, CNN Bryan Atchison, CatholicUniversity Chris Billing, Congressional-Executive Commission on China Jim Nelson Black, Sentinel Research Paul Borchers, Department of Labor Diane Bryhn, Office of Congressman Darrell Issa Kami Butt Leslie Carbone, freelance writer Keith Cox, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Janice Shaw Crouse, Beverly LaHaye Institute Thomas Crowe, Center for Print and Broadcast Media Martin Davis, Philanthropy Roundtable Melody Divine, Burns, Figa, & Will, p.c. Timothy Dolch, Ethics and PublicPolicyCenter Julia Duin, Washington Times JoshEarl, Washington Times Terry Eastland, Weekly Standard Karin Finkler, Office of Congressman Joseph Pitts Hillel Fradkin, Ethics and PublicPolicyCenter Steve Garber, American Studies Program Joshua Good, Department of Labor Joshua Graham, Hands Along the Nile Leon Hadar, Cato Institute, Business Times (Singapore) Greg Headington Jeanne Heffernan, Ethics and PublicPolicyCenter Amy Hybels Peggy Jackson Paul Jensen, Office of Senator Gordon Smith David Jetter, Republican Policy Committee Bob Jones, World Grace Lee, Curtain Call Productions Rose Lemire, Office of Congressman Hostettler Alyn Levin-Hadar, Office of Senator Barbara Boxer Joe Loconte, Heritage Foundation Alan Mairson, National Geographic Paul Marshall, Freedom House Pierre Matchouda Phillip McCombs, Washington Post Amanda McCullough, Office of Congressman Hostettler Steven McFarland, Prison Fellowship International Neena Moorjani, Office of Congressman Kolbe Bill Newcott, Modern Maturity Sarah Pentz, Ethics and PublicPolicyCenter Judy Person, Washington Times Shannon Royce, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Mark O’Keefe, Newhouse News Service Glenn Oeland, National Geographic Bruce Overton, Office of Administration Julia Overton Mary Lynn Qurnell, Office of Senator Helms Joanne Schmoll Leslie Sillars, PatrickHenryCollege Stephen Smith, DOE, Office of General Council Lisa D. Smith Dorothy Taft, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe John Tai, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom John J. Tkacik, Jr., Heritage Foundation Mark Tooley, Institute on Religion and Democracy Kevin Vettraino, Center for Print and Broadcast Media Loredana Vuoto, Office of Senator Santorum Jen Waters, Washington Times William Wehrly Sarah Weltz, Concerned Women for America Rich Westfall, Center for Print and Broadcast Media Kathy Whitt, Bridges International Bill Wichterman, Office of Congressman Pitts Jonathan Winters, Department of Labor
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The Quotable Cromartie
Recent clippings of VP and Senior Fellow. Michael Cromartie
On the new generation of evangelicals: "This new generation has the same convictions but without the edge. They may believe all the same things, but ... they've learned how to present themselves." (Washington Post, 3/6/04)
On politics and religion: Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said that "too often, at least in religiously conservative communities ... there seems to be a concern that we must first of all get the whole culture converted to our theology before you can work for public good." Such a conversion is "not going to happen," he said, so that the question becomes: "How do you find a public grammar, a public language in order to work with people who actually agree with you on the policy but don't agree with you on the theology?" (Washington Post, 2/20/05)
On J. I. Packer's book Knowing God: "Conservative Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists could all look at it and say, 'This sums it all up for us.'" (Time, 2/7/05)
Michael Cromartie: "The large evangelical populace in this country will cut President Bush a lot of slack. It's the self-appointed leaders in the evangelical movement who won't. I think most evangelicals are more tolerant, and understand political reality more, than the heads of organizations who try to speak for these groups." (The Bakersfield Californian, 11/12/2004)
On politics and religion: "Sure, you have a lot of progressive religious people and, politically, they are going to vote for Kerry. Your problem is that you have a small but significant cohort in the Democratic Party that is really anti-religious and doesn't want to bring religious values and norms into the public arena. That makes it difficult for people from a more moderate to conservative bent religiously to be around the party. They feel excluded and unwanted." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/10/04)
On politics and religion: "Michael Cromartie, director of the evangelical studies project of the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, said the religious left is preaching to the liberal choir, not religious swing voters. 'They already have this [liberal] vote,' he said. 'This National Council of Churches crowd is not about to vote for Bush, anyway." (Washington Post, 9/4/04, p. B9)
On natural law: "Michael Cromartie, who directs projects involving evangelicals at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, invoked thinkers like John Calvin and concepts like 'common grace,' all with impeccable REformation credentials. 'A proper appropriation of the natural law tradition,' Mr. Cromartie wrote, 'can provide a public grammar for making appeals in the public arena to people who hold diverse philosophical worldviews and presuppositions." (New York Times, 8/21/04, p. A15)
Michael Cromartie: "The debate evangelicals are having among themselves today is not whether Christians should be concerned for justice, which we should, but what role and how large a role government should have in creating that justice. ... The debate we now need to have is whether certain policies have created more justice for the marginalized, or have they made matters worse? Many eminent social sicentists think the latter." (World, July 3/10, 2004)
Michael Cromartie: "People don't want a President to think that every important decision has a stamp of God's approval and that God is always on his side. ... [Americans] want their Presidents to be pious but not self-righteously so. So there's a paradox, isn't there? A President has to seem to be relying on God's wisdom but not acting like all his decisions are God's decisions." (Time, 6/21/04)
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What is an "Evangelical"?
A thoughtful look at a complicated notion
Mark Noll, professor at Wheaton College, delivered a lecture on "Understanding American Evangelicals" at EPPC's 2003 conference in Key West, Florida. He provides the history of evangelical movements, discusses the number of American evangelicals, and takes the measure of evangelical hymns. An elegant and eloquent presentation for those curious about what it means to be an evangelical.
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