The Challenge of Christianity in China

Christianity has always been a minority religion in China. It is the second of three big world religions to come to China from the outside. It arrived -- after Buddhism and before Islam; and has progressed through about five well-defined eras, during which Chinese became Christians, and then went underground, or were driven out, or killed. As Chinese society struggled in turmoil at the turn of the twentieth century, Sun Yat-sen, an overseas Chinese Christian, rose to lead a revolution that gave birth to the Republic of China. The once unthinkable - that a Chinese leader would be a Christian - became a reality. Moreover, China's next leader, Chiang Kai-shek, turned to Christianity in order to marry the future Madame Chiang Kai-shek. But when the Communists came to power they put forth great effort to eradicate Christianity as the religion of the Imperialists; and in 1954 established the Three Self Patriotic Movement with its three principles of 'self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation' . This is the story of the challenges Chinese Christians have had to face, in order to maintain their faith.