China, officially atheist, could have more Christians than the U.S. by 2030

Houston Chronicle ^ | 03/05/2018 | Bill Murphy

[SeekAndFind]

Officially an atheist nation and a place where the government shutters some Christian churches, China is on course to become home to more Christians than any country in the world by 2030.

Christianity also is growing rapidly in some other Asian nations and sub-Saharan Africa as people in countries modernizing at a breakneck pace seek solace from the leading religion of western, technologically advanced nations.

"As countries get incorporated into the global capitalist world, a lot of uncertainty and stress is introduced into society," said Michael Emerson, an academic who focuses on the sociology of religion. "Christianity is seen as one way of modernizing and westernizing because Christianity is viewed as the faith of the west."

Emerson, provost of North Park University in Chicago, and other professors discussed the causes of Christianity's growth in Asia and Africa at a forum put on by Rice University's religion and public life program on Wednesday. In China, most people identify as atheists, influenced by communist party teachings about religion. Religious activities were banned in China from 1966-1979.

Since the Communist Party relaxed its policies about religion, traditional Chinese religions - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - have returned. And Christianity has grown alongside them.

As China introduced more capitalist features into its economy, the rate of Christianity's growth accelerated, said Fenggang Yang, a Purdue University sociology professor and author of "Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule." Adherents to Christianity, he said, have been increasing about 10 percent annually in China for nearly 40 years.

Christianity is the dominant religion in the United States, the world's third most populous country, and Brazil, the fifth most populous. But China will be home to more Christians than these countries by 2030, Yang said. With 1.4 billion people, China's population, of course, dwarfs the U.S.

[Hazwaste]

"As countries get incorporated into the global capitalist world, a lot of uncertainty and stress is introduced into society," said Michael Emerson, an academic who focuses on the sociology of religion. "Christianity is seen as one way of modernizing and westernizing because Christianity is viewed as the faith of the west."

Spoken as someone who believes Christianity is a means to an end, rather than a relationship with the Savior.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

The growth of Christianity in Asia is a wonderful success story that gives me hope. Christianity is declining in the West. A significant minority of Western Christians border on being Christians in name only. Chinese Christians, in particular, face persecution. That adds a level of meaning and commitment that Westerners don’t and can’t have in their Christianity.

[rusty schucklefurd]

re: “As countries get incorporated into the global capitalist world, a lot of uncertainty and stress is introduced into society,” said Michael Emerson, an academic who focuses on the sociology of religion. “Christianity is seen as one way of modernizing and westernizing because Christianity is viewed as the faith of the west.”

Right. That’s the reason. It couldn’t be because people living in totalitarian/atheistic regimes see through the charade and question that people are mere “cogs” in an all-powerful State. It couldn’t be that they see the soul crushing world-view of communism and socialism because they’ve lived it for 70 years.

[txrefugee]

The Gospel’s message of Jesus as Savior of the world resonates in the hearts of sinners today as in every age.This is surprising to the secular media.

[nobamanomore]

Exactly. Look what’s happened in countries that were under the thumb of communism, Russia, Hungary, Poland, etc.

[BenLurkin]

Not to worry. Pope Francis is doing everything he can to stop this trend.

[Truthoverpower]

When you’re dirt poor
Christ is your best friend
He leads you to righteousness and happiness the only true way
Caring about others as yourself
China has 600-700 million poor people
Do the numbers

[littleharbour]

China, Korea, Vietnam all have significant Christian populations, many of whom are persecuted or discriminated against by the State for their faith. I suspect China already has more faithful Christians that the United States, given the the recent trend in Church attendance among the Catholic and Traditional Protestant denominations.

[fatez]

I work for a well known Christian child development ministry. We have done some work in China under the radar. Some estimates (credible) that China’s Christian population is 10% and that there are lots of Christian’s in the government. What I find interesting is China could become an ally of the USA if her Christian population keeps growing as rapidly as it has. Christians in China have no beef with the US and would welcome real dialog. It would be at least 15 to 20 years before this happens.

[Truthoverpower]

Onc you know the truth
You don’t go back
Word can spread like wildfire
And you can’t ban books or the Buddha
You can try. And try they will
They will not succeed - the oppressors

[HiTech RedNeck]

Oh, God has incentives to take a closer look and He is not fazed by a mixed motive.