Atheist China to top world’s Christian population by 2030
BEIJING: The Amity Printing Company in China’s Nanjing city is the world’s largest producer of Bibles. Between 1987 and July this year, it produced 150 million copies in 90 languages that were sold in 70 countries.
If that’s surprising, here’s the controversy: Officially atheist China, according to an estimate sharply criticised by Beijing, could have the largest number of Christians by 2030.
Actual numbers are hard to come by. The Chinese government pegged it at between 23 million and 40 million in 2014, counting those who join religious activities in state-sanctioned churches.
So many Chinese have been converting to Christianity in the last few decades, which amounts to a social phenomenon that I would call ‘mass conversion’ in modern times. YANG FENGGANG, sociology professor at Purdue University, Indiana
BEIJING: The Amity Printing Company in China’s Nanjing city is the world’s largest producer of Bibles. Between 1987 and July this year, it produced 150 million copies in 90 languages that were sold in 70 countries.
If that’s surprising, here’s the controversy: Officially atheist China, according to an estimate sharply criticised by Beijing, could have the largest number of Christians by 2030.
Actual numbers are hard to come by. The Chinese government pegged it at between 23 million and 40 million in 2014, counting those who join religious activities in state-sanctioned churches.
Independent estimates vary. A 2011 Pew survey said around 5% of China’s population in 2010 – or 67 million – were Christians. It took into account those who are part of non-registered or “home” churches that function informally.
There are experts who suggest the number is easily more than the number of Communist Party of China (CPC) members, currently 88 million.
Young professional Ling and Lily, an undergraduate student at a top university in Beijing, don’t visit formal churches but are regulars at informal gatherings.
“The gathering spot varies. We used to go to a fellow student’s home or a coffee shop or restaurant. Because it’s not very convenient to sing hymns in public, we would pick a comparatively private place,” Lily said.
“We generally go to family churches. Those churches are not legally recognised, so they’re illegal in a way.”
Then there is the phenomenon of unregistered churches, said Carsten Vala, an associate professor at Loyola University, Maryland.
“The most interesting development to me is that of large, unregistered churches in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, where hundreds of high-status, white collar Chinese participate in churches not officially registered but which nevertheless exist due to permissiveness of local officials,” Vala said.
The informal churches fill two requirements – they make up for formal churches, and keep things private for those worried about the CPC.
Beijing has strictly regulated Christianity since the CPC adopted a conciliatory approach to religion four decades ago. The growth of Christianity began at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), a period when all religions were suppressed.
Sociology professor Yang Fenggang, founding director of the Centre on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, Indiana, explained the phenomenon. “Every convert has a uniquely personal story to tell about their change of faith. However, so many Chinese have been converting to Christianity in the last few decades, which amounts to a social phenomenon that I would call ‘mass conversion’ in modern times,” he told HT.
But the CPC has launched intermittent crackdowns on Christianity. A high-profile crackdown in the past twothree years in Zhejiang province, China’s Christianity heartland, saw crosses being removed from nearly 2,000 churches.
Ling said: “Although they say we have religious freedom in China, I think the actual situation is not really so. Our belief is intervened and restricted.”
Officials sharply criticised Yang’s 2014 estimate that Christians could exceed 160 million by 2025 and 247 million by 2030, calling it inflated.
The forecast may not prove to be true but there’s little doubt the number of Christians is increasing. Of the 150 million Bibles that Amity Print has sold till now, more than 76 million were bought in China. That demand is unlikely to ebb soon, neither the gatherings at home churches in sitting rooms, attics and garages.