Guest Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 According to Pew Research [http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/], only 5% of China's population (as of 2011) were Christians. Why is it God has not allowed "The Good News" to penetrate a country where billions of people have lived and died? Just wondering what the apologists would say to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven77 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hate to break it to you, but God doesn't exist. That being said, Christianity didn't spread to China for a variety of reasons. 1) China was not part of either half of the Roman Empire 2) China had their own faith until recently. (Tao, Buddhism, ancestor worship) 3) China was decimated by the Mongols during the crusades and the Christians failed to capitalize on that crumbling of empire. 4) China had ample opportunity to accept the Gospel prior to Mao's takeover. They didn't. 5) China has no need for Christianity today. The state is the religion. Money is faith. Jesus is a ridiculous notion in a society where human life has a price and money is king. 6) Christianity is an empty promise made to the poor/slaves by those in control. The Bible is essentially a fantasy tale for the Jewish people in which they receive their strip of desert land and the True Believers romp in an eternal kingdom while everyone else burns in Hell. The Chinese were never enslaved by anyone except their own kind and therefore do not readily identify with the promises of the Bible, IMO. There are probably more, but that's what I got this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Christianity is deeply insulting to Asian cultures. Christianity says that all of your ancestors still exist right now. God is holding most of them in prison where they are being raped and tortured. God will never let them out. They are going to continue to be tortured forever. Your Great Grandfather who you owe all your gratitude to because all your honor you have today came from him - yep he is in hell being burned in agony. And you need to love the one who is hurting your family. You should love the one who will never give them another chance. Or almost as insulting: God won't give your family any mercy unless you pay me for this indulgence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francesco Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 probably he is jealous since he made the world and the rest are made in china Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 When you have a civilization that is much older than Christianity, where is the appeal? They had Confucius and Buddhism. They simply were unable to relate to what Christianity had to say, and of course, they were not conquered by Christians. Also agree, believe it or not, with what mymistake says - they have an ideal of ancestor worship that just does not conform with the Christian idea of heaven or hell, and hell for those who don't believe. This whole notion of sin and blood sacrifice - they just couldn't relate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExCBooster Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 All of the above, plus the fact that the last time somebody in China claimed to be anything relating to Christianity for political purposes, it led to a 14 year civil war that killed 20 million people. That's more deaths in just one country than all of World War One killed worldwide. Consider the impact of the Great War on European culture and civilization, then imagine carnage on an even bigger scale, but inside just one state, and explicitly tied to Christianity, at least symbolically. The Taiping Rebellion stands as one of the most damaging conflicts in world history, to date. It also was in the very recent past, a mere 150 years ago, which is practically yesterday, considering the length of Chinese civilization. These wounds are still very raw, in the popular consciousness. Not to mention European missionaries being tied to European trade, which was in turn practically synonymous with the spectre of the opium trade and public health crisis (which also led to a series of humiliating wars and political collapse... which then touched off the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, and the devastating Chinese Civil War starting in about 1911, and then softened them up for the horrific Japanese invasion... you get the idea). That's why, for average people on the street, as well as the leadership: Christianity (and other aggressively spreading religions) = social upheaval, war, imperialism, bloodshed and famine on an unprecedented scale, and a century-long national tragedy that still haunts modern geopolitics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 25, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted September 25, 2014 China has a much older history of their own crazy beliefs, and they are not compatible with Western thought and values. That and the fact the Crusades never conquered China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 About the gospel not reaching China for hundreds and hundreds of years I heard this excuse and it's similar to the story of Pharaoh and Moses. It boils down to Gawd knows when a society is "open" to the message of Christ, and until that time He will keep that message from reaching those lands. So those millions of Chinese people who lived and died in ignorance of Christ (and are now in hell) wouldn't have accepted Christ anyway because their hearts were hardened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 About the gospel not reaching China for hundreds and hundreds of years I heard this excuse and it's similar to the story of Pharaoh and Moses. It boils down to Gawd knows when a society is "open" to the message of Christ, and until that time He will keep that message from reaching those lands. So those millions of Chinese people who lived and died in ignorance of Christ (and are now in hell) wouldn't have accepted Christ anyway because their hearts were hardened. This is the answer I was looking for. I understand why, historically, Christianity would not survive or appeal to Asian cultures. I was wondering what apologists have to say about why God hasn't intervened. And the apologist answer is pretty lame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 'Cause God luvs 'Murica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 'Cause God luvs 'Murica. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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