This article is part of a serial release of information from the report "Faltering States and Growing Churches" published by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF). Click here for part one (Africa) and click here for part two (Middle East), and click here for part three (India).
In 2024 evidence emerged that the higher echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are reluctantly having to reconcile themselves to the fact that the unregistered churches of China are too big to properly control.
China’s leaders fear the church.
One of the most informed scholars of the Chinese church (who must remain nameless) gave a presentation in the summer of 2024, offering four reasons why China’s leaders fear the church, especially its unregistered Protestant portion where estimates vary from 40 to 80 million (in addition to the official Protestant and Catholic churches)...
- Xi Jinping subscribes to the view that it was the Church that played a vitally significant role in the overthrow of Eastern European communism.
- He accepts the so-called "hollow heart" theory and fears communism is over-matched by Christianity in its capacity to fulfill the heart’s desires and form an alternate society that ironically better reflects the ideals of Communism.
- Xi is angry that the unregistered church remains significantly beyond the control of the CCP and seems powerless to slow the growth. It is still the fastest growing religion in the country.
- Xi thinks Christianity is entirely foreign and anti-Chinese, yet so many Chinese keep saying Christianity has now taken a Chinese face and is much more indigenous than its detractors claim.
President Xi Jinping is facing other challenges too. Despite the massive purges he has waged under the banner of anti-corruption, Michael Sheriden in his 2024 book, "Red Emperor" marshals evidence that this was merely a means of removing his enemies. Yet, according to Sheriden, he still faces powerful factions within the Party that consider him a blundering bully.
Xi has set up to offer prosperity and stability to China and those who come within its trading orbit. A property crash, fleeing foreign investment, and harsher and harsher controls, suggest Xi’s grip may be weakening, which could make him a more dangerous foe on the world stage.
We now form 'walking churches' in parks.
“On the surface, it is very tight, with our home churches getting smaller,” said a Shanghai house church leader, “but we are keeping one step ahead of the surveillance. For example, we now form 'walking churches' in parks, and we see our numbers quietly growing as Christ meets the needs of the heart in ways the government knows but cannot match."
The next region to feature in this series is Latin America.
Previously published by International Institute for Religious Freedom. Republished with permission.
This commentary draws upon data available in the International Institute for Religious Freedom's Violent Incidents Database, which can be freely accessed at: https://iirf.global/vid/.
Dr. Ronald Boyd-MacMillan, serves as Chief of Research and Global Strategy at Global Christian Relief. He also is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute for Religious Freedom and a Research Associate at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. In addition, Ronald is Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary focusing on understanding and learning from the suffering church as well as visiting Professor of Practical Theology and Spiritual Formation at Lahore College of Theology in Pakistan.
