What to Make of China?

Richard W. Ohman

Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power by David Aikman (Second edition, Regnery Publishing, December 2006), 336 pages. ISBN 1596980257

China—what to make of it? Response to this question will undoubtedly consume an ever-increasing amount of time, energy, and analysis as our new century unfolds. The context for discussing this question is becoming clear and involves at least three major themes: economic potential, political rigidity, and the nation’s soul. David Aikman’s book, Jesus in Beijing, just released in a new edition, addresses the least-discussed of these today—the nation’s soul—which may well be the most important in answering the questions about China and its future.

Today China has apparently discarded both its ancient (Confucian) and modern (Communist) ideological and moral bases in its pursuit of growth and wealth. What fills this moral vacuum will be decisive in determining the future course of China, whether it be a world tyrant or a cooperating member within an increasingly globalized world.

When China’s economic growth falters, the moral legitimacy of the current political regime will be tested and the world will get to see the real banner under which China marches. This test may come sooner than we think. China’s present economic growth is driven by a huge, energetic population, market reforms, global liquidity, and a managed currency. Their combination over the past decade has propelled China forward at an unprecedented rate of growth. But this growth has also generated huge global financial imbalances that suggest turbulence ahead, perhaps severe.

Jesus in Beijing introduces a wild card into traditional analyses of China: the growth of its Christian church. Most people outside church circles would consider this topic incidental to the “main” events of economics and politics. Yet growth of the church, particularly in urban areas among highly educated people, is reaching the point where it could begin to influence the tilt of government decisions in the future. This is significant because the institutions that form the bedrock of our global world—democracy, capitalism, free trade, and global financial markets—are in and of themselves morally neutral. They are organizing principles that derive their present moral force from the faith and beliefs of Western civilization. China and the rest of the non-Western world have generally accepted these institutions and their moral anchors because of the dominance of the West. They are playing by the current rules, but they are not necessarily following their own moral beliefs.

China is emerging as a new economic colossus and thus positioning itself to increasingly project its own moral values. China’s soul, or moral core, will thus have influence well beyond the narrow categories of church and missions. The success of the Christian church in China could well define the parameters of China’s future, and perhaps ours.

Aikman does a masterful job in tracing the long and convoluted history of Christianity in China in a concise and clear way. He tells the story using its key personalities, thus making it come alive. As he recounts the past, it is interesting to observe how each of the three major streams of Christianity (Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant) have had their day in China over the past fourteen hundred years. Each in turn was banished for different reasons. The recent resurgence of Christianity in China, after the Communist takeover in 1949, is much different from the three previous beachheads in that its key leadership is uniquely Chinese.

Aikman’s book clearly catalogues the background and development of this Chinese leadership and their stressful relationship with the Communist government. Persecution and imprisonment have been ever-present backdrops to the church’s growth. Ironically, as church leaders point out, this pressure has only made them stronger. The government’s interference with the church also includes interference with outside Christian organizations operating in China. Indeed, some believe that Aikman’s book has exacerbated their already difficult situation. China has always resisted encroachments from the outside world. Perhaps this period will be different because of China’s need for world markets to keep its economy growing and because of the strength and indigenous nature of its Christian church.

The future of the Christian church in China will be the subject of much debate, speculation, and fundraising. In the end, its future will not be determined by prognostications, methodologies, or anyone’s will, because it is not ours to determine. In reading Jesus in Beijing, one gets the clear sense that a far greater story is unfolding than can be reduced to a logical, pragmatic story line. The Christian church in China seems to be driven by a historical imperative that is spontaneous in nature and far greater than the sum of its individual personalities or specific events. Many would see in this story a divine hand. If this be true, then the current size of the church in China and its rate of growth, which some critics believe are grossly overstated by Aikman, are subordinated to the larger force of God’s sovereign working.

Readers primarily interested in the economic and political development of China will benefit from reading Jesus in Beijing as it could well describe the third rail on which China travels into the future—and also because it could be argued that a new moral base in China is essential to the stability of its government and sustainability of its growth. Readers interested more in church and mission will benefit from reading Jesus in Beijing as it presents a counterpoint to many Western notions as to how churches grow and prosper. Fidelity to the Gospel truth, not circumstances, dictate the church’s health and growth. Finally, readers just interested in good historical writing will find Jesus in Beijing enjoyable, as it offers an alternate perspective on the most dynamic country in today’s world.  

Richard W. Ohman is a former President and Trustee of The Trinity Forum. He lives in New Hampshire and travels regularly to China.

1 Responses (comments are closed) • Reviews, Faiths and Worldviews, Society, Fri 02 Feb 2007