Past, Present and Future
Matthew Vogan
The phenomenal growth of China is now familiar to many – not only in economic terms, but also the number of professing Christians. Its population of 1.35 billion people is unique amongst the world’s nations. About 6.3% of this total are Evangelical Christians; making it the most Evangelical nation in the world. There are more professing Christians in China than there are atheists or Buddhists.
This is truly astonishing when we consider the great onslaught against the Church during the middle of the twentieth century. It was so systematic and brutal that in 1970 it was estimated that the Mao regime had successfully wiped out Christianity. It is surely an evident miracle of God’s sovereign grace and special providence that Chinese Evangelical Christianity is flourishing today. Just as China is expected to dominate the world economically, it is also anticipated that it will play a leading role in relation to Christianity. The BBC observed in recent years that more people attend church in China each week than in the whole of Europe combined.
China’s Reforming Churches: Mission, Polity, and Ministry in the Next Christendom1 highlights the Reformed dimension of this growth. The subtitle of the book alludes to the notion that a new Christendom is expected to emerge comprised of the rapidly growing Asian, African and South American churches. The growth in these regions of the world easily offsets the decline in the West but also means that a shift in global leadership and influence is inevitable.
Past.
China’s Presbyterian past extends back to 1807, when the Scottish Presbyterian Robert Morrison commenced his labours. He was later joined by William Milne. It was 30 years later, however, that missionaries from the Presbyterian Church in the USA were sent to Chinese-speaking people. They began their work in Singapore before they were able to move to mainland China five years later. Benjamin Peach Keasberry remained in Singapore to establish the first Presbyterian congregation in Prinsep Street. Other noted missionaries included William Chalmers Burns, whose work in producing Chinese-language metrical psalms can be found on our Church’s website.
Various Presbyterian and Reformed Churches established missions in China. Allowing for the vast geography, this presented a somewhat disjointed effort and did not encourage a united indigenous Chinese Church. There were also other challenges presented by overseas connections. Oversight by Church courts was hindered by language and communications barriers, lack of knowledge and the sheer distance involved.
John L Nevius was one of the most prominent of Presbyterian missionaries to China in this era. An old school Presbyterian from the United States, who had studied at Princeton under such men as Archibald Alexander and Charles Hodge, his influential principles involved planting churches that are self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating – in other words, led by local nationals rather than foreign missionaries. These principles were to have their greatest impact in Korea. Missionaries today, however, still struggle for various reasons to ensure that their missions move on from dependence upon foreign help and support.
It was a period of growth but not without its sad persecutions. In the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, 135 foreign missionaries and 53 missionary children were killed; 1912 Chinese Protestants lost their lives. By 1919 eleven different Presbyterian Churches had established missions in China. The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea took place in 1912 following the spiritual revival of 1907. It was a relatively short time before Koreans were themselves sending missionaries into China.
In the 1920s there were more than 8000 Protestant foreign missionaries labouring within China. The numbers of Chinese Protestant believers and leaders were significant also. The collapse of such extensive Protestant missions was unforeseen. It was due, not only to Chinese nationalism, but also to theological liberalism with its destructive biblical criticism. The heretical views of liberal Protestants included a denial of the need to labour for the conversion of their fellow men to Christianity.
There followed the expulsion of missionaries, both liberal and conservative. Korean Presbyterian missionaries were able to remain on the Chinese mainland a little longer, but the last were expelled in 1957. From 1950 to 1990 China was isolated from the outside world; yet there were some elements of Reformed influence during this period. Most notable was the Reformation Translation Fellowship under Charles Chao. Yet the major influences on the Protestant Church in China were not at all Reformed in doctrine.
The persecution from the Communist regime was brutal and intense. It resulted in the systematic destruction of Christian literature as well as imprisonment of church leaders. “In countless places, Christians were put through such abuse that many did not survive the ordeal.”2 The persecution had a purifying effect, in that few liberal missionaries have returned to China since it has reopened. The prohibition of Christian books also ensured the purging of erroneous and harmful literature. Christians were also brought to depend more heavily and entirely upon the Word of God alone. Even the state-sanctioned Three Self Church is theologically far more conservative than many churches in the West.3
Present.
There is a strong movement towards Reformed theology in China today. “Reformed theology is being disseminated and embraced throughout China; Reformed confessions of faith are being translated or written and adopted; and new attention is being paid to worship, preaching, and leadership”.
Theological education and the publishing of Reformed literature are two opportunities for providing solid teaching to Chinese Christians. Bruce Baugus notes that “the great works of the Reformed tradition are being brought into open circulation” (p 306). Much can be done through legal publication of Christian literature in a country with 95% adult literacy, but it is expensive and strictly controlled. The vast majority of “Christian” books in legal circulation in China are not Reformed. Yet there is an almost insatiable appetite developing for Reformed literature. Some books are even being officially published in China. Other organisations have sprung up besides the continuing work of the Reformation Translation Fellowship: the Robert Morrison Project and Hudson Taylor Ministries, in particular. Publishers such as the Banner of Truth have also had some of their books translated and published for a Chinese audience.
It might seem that the climate of persecution in China precludes the visible and ordered structures of Presbyterian church government. One of the effects of persecution has been that Churches that are not sanctioned by the state can exist in something of a chaotic state where visible and extensive organisational structures are difficult. House churches have frequently had arrangements where controlling figures preside and govern as bishops. Persecution is now much less common than we tend to assume, however.
It is said that culturally also Chinese tend instinctively to choose the least resistant and easiest way. This would seem to make Presbyterian order less attractive to them, because it requires thorough conviction, consideration and diligent application. Yet Presbyterian church government appears to be gaining some ground amongst Chinese Christians. Bruce Baugus summarises the current situation as follows: “Local congregations and in a few cases entire networks are being organized or reorganised along Presbyterian lines; Reformed seminaries are being established throughout the country; a Chinese Presbyterian polity has been drawn up; presbyteries are being formed in various places and are in communication with one another; ministers are being trained, examined, and ordained” (pp 306-7).
Future.
As Bruce Baugus notes: “All of this is just the beginning of an attempt by Chinese pastors and church leaders to meet the needs of God’s people and lay a firm foundation for the future”. There are many challenges, including the lack of resources and of teaching. Consumerism is likely to become as much of a threat to the Church in China in the future as it is in the West. It may well be a greater challenge than persecution.
The extent of Christ’s kingdom is described in Isaiah 49:12. “Behold, these shall come from afar; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the Land of Sinim”. Rather than the east it speaks of Sinim. This is widely recognised by interpreters of Scripture to be the Far East, particularly China. (Chinese-related things are often referred to with the prefix sino: for example, sinology is the study of things Chinese). The Chinese Bible translates Sinim as “Chin” which is a root word for China.
The future of Presbyterianism in what has been termed the world’s largest mission field appears optimistic. This in turn offers an interesting perspective on the potential for an influential role for Presbyterian church government in the future. Though we are not drawing any direct connection, one cannot help but be reminded of how Jonathan Edwards describes the ultimate latter-day glory. He speaks in his History of Redemption of Africa, India and Great Tartary (the Far East and China) producing prominent theologians and outstanding Christian literature at that time. Scripture certainly highlights the Far East or the lands of the rising sun in describing the latter-day glory. “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering: for My name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:11).
China is the world’s largest mission field (it also contains the largest concentration of unreached peoples). In the view of some it is also rapidly poised to become the nation that sends out most foreign missionaries. Some Chinese having been talking for some time about taking the gospel “back to Jerusalem” by establishing missionary work all along the Silk Road.
A growing number of Chinese Christians are hungry for biblical teaching that is clear, sound and has depth. The internet offers many resources for them. Western organisations of a Reformed character are registering a significant number of visitors to their websites. Puritan Publications speaks of 30 000 Chinese visitors to its website in a month. It is encouraging that (DV) a Chinese website is to be established under the Website Committee of our Church and in connection with the Singapore congregation. We have a rich heritage and a duty to share this with those that are seeking the truth in China. Another important development being supported is the Trinitarian Bible Society project to provide a faithful Bible translation for the Chinese people.
Bruce Baugus concludes his book by saying: “China needs Presbyterianism now”. He asserts that those of Presbyterian convictions in the West must make it a priority to encourage this growth into something robust and enduring. “Surely this is one of the great kingdom projects of our generation” (p 307).
None [are] fit to rule but such that are rich in grace. . . . What a world of good may a man do with worldly riches in a parish, in a city, in a nation! But that is nothing to the good that a man may do that is rich in grace. O the sins that he may prevent! O the judgements that he may divert! O the favours and blessings that he may draw down upon the heads and hearts of people! I presume you forget not what a blessing Moses, Joseph, Job, Nehemiah, Mordecai and Daniel proved to the people among whom they lived, and these were all rich in grace.
Thomas Brooks
1Edited by Bruce P Baugus, Reformation Heritage Books, 2014. This article is not intended to be a review of the book but draws most of its information from it.
2Daniel Bays, A New History of Christianity in China, quoted in Baugus, p 14.
3Points made in Michael M, China’s Reforming Churches, Reformation Heritage Books, pp 56-7.