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When Freedom Dies Series — China: Can Christianity Exist Under Communist Party Control? · Voices Of Life

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  You're listening to Voices of Life, When Freedom
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  Dies, a teaching series from the Church for Life.
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  Today, Pastor David takes us into one of the
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  most complex and misunderstood stories of religious
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  freedom in the modern world, Christianity in
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  China. China says its citizens enjoy freedom
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  of religious belief. Churches exist, Bibles exist,
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  millions of Christians gather for worship. But
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  the same government also requires churches to
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  accept Communist Party leadership, government
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  supervision, and an officially approved interpretation
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  of religious life. So the question is not simply,
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  does Christianity exist in China? It does the
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  deeper question is, how much freedom can Christianity
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  retain under Communist Party control? Here is
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  Pastor David. Welcome to the Voices of Life When
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  Freedom Dies series. I'm Pastor David. When we
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  talk about China, we're not talking about a place
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  where Christianity has vanished. We're talking
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  about a place where Christianity has survived
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  revolution, endured persecution, rebuilt itself,
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  and today it exists in two very different worlds.
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  Registered churches under state supervision,
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  and independent house churches that operate outside
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  the government's control. This tension between
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  belief and control is the heart of episode 8
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  today. Here's the central question. China's constitution
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  says citizens have a freedom of religious belief
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  and that the state protects normal religious
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  activities. But the government also requires
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  religious organizations to operate within a state
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  -controlled regulatory framework. So we begin
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  with a simple but profound question. Can a Christian
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  church remain truly independent when the government
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  requires it to accept Communist Party leadership?
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  Christian worship exists. Christian churches
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  exist. Christian clergy exist. Bibles are printed
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  and distributed. But independent Christian organizations
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  face a very different reality from the registered
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  churches. That distinction is essential. When
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  People's Republic of China was founded in 1949,
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  Christianity was already present through the
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  catholic and protestant missionary work the new
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  communist government viewed foreign religious
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  influence with suspicion in the 1950s china created
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  the three self -patriotic movement self -government
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  self -support and self -propagation to remove
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  foreign missionary influence by the late 1950s
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  virtually all foreign missionaries had been expelled
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  but christianity did not disappear the cultural
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  revolution from 1966 to 1976 was one of the darkest
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  periods for religion in modern chinese history
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  churches were closed or destroyed clergy and
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  believers were persecuted religious activity
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  was essentially prohibited yet christianity survived
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  underground and when restrictions eased after
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  mao's death christianity began to rebuild both
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  in registered churches and independent house
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  churches. So here's a question. How many Christians
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  are there? Well, this is surprisingly a difficult
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  question to answer. Pew Research found that about
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  20 million adults self -identified as Christian
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  in 2018, roughly 2 % of China's population, but
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  warns that the number is hard to measure because
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  millions worship outside of the official system.
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  So the most accurate statement is, China has
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  tens of millions of Christians, but researchers
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  disagree about the exact number because many
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  worship outside the government's registered system.
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  So there's two worlds of Christianity. First
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  is the registered Christianity. Protestant churches
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  operate through three self -patriotic movements
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  and the China Christian Council. Catholic churches
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  operate through the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
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  Association. Register churches have buildings,
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  clergy, seminaries, publications, and Bibles,
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  but they operate under government regulations
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  and government supervision. Then there are the
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  house churches. House churches operate outside
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  the official system. Some meet in homes, others
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  have thousands of members. This is where the
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  conflict becomes sharp because a house church
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  says Christ is the head of the church. The government
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  says, Churches must operate with the state regulations.
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  Authorities have tightened controls on unregistered
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  churches and unauthorized evangelism. Now, Qiping
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  and the sensation of religion. When Qiping came
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  to China's leaders in 2012 -2013, everything
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  changed. The government began promoting sensation
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  of religion. The idea that religion must conform
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  to Chinese culture. Chinese law, and Chinese
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  political framework of the People's Republic.
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  Critics argue sin cessation goes further, requiring
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  churches to incorporate Communist Party ideology
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  into religious life. USCIRF and Human Rights
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  Watch make this argument explicit. What sin cessation
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  means in practice? Sin cessation is not about
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  architecture or language. Government regulations
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  require clergy to support, One, Communist Party
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  leadership. Two, the socialist system. Three,
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  Chinese law. Four, socialist core values. Five,
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  national unity. Six, and the policy that religions
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  follow a Chinese path. Now imagine just one of
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  them alone following a socialist values or core
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  values. Imagine the manifesto from our DSA in
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  the United States if the church had to follow
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  that. it just would be very incompatible. China's
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  2025 internet behavior standards prohibit clergy
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  from using online platforms to oppose party leadership,
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  conduct unauthorized worship, or provide religious
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  education to minors. This is one of the strongest
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  pieces of evidence that Christianity in China
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  isn't anything like Christianity here in the
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  United States. So let's talk about Christianity
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  and the internet. This matters deeply for digital
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  ministries like Voices of Life. China's 2025
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  rules regulate online religious activity. Clergy
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  may preach online only through approved organizations
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  with government licenses. Unauthorized live streams,
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  videos, WeChat, groups, or online worship are
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  prohibited. So the question becomes, what happens
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  to Christianity when the government can regulate
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  not only the church building, but also the digital
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  space where believers communicate. Now, remember
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  it said that you couldn't do education online
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  to children. So let's talk about children and
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  religious education. China places strong restrictions
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  on minors. The USCIRF reports that registered
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  communities face prohibitions on minors engaging
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  in religious activities or receiving religious
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  education. The 2025 online rules prohibit clergy
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  from using the internet to indoctrinate minors
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  or organize religious camps. This raises a profound
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  theological question. Can a religion remain healthy
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  when the state restricts parents and churches
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  from teaching children? And they talk about indoctrination.
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  Well, the only indoctrination going on is indoctrination
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  into the Communist Party and the party's values.
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  Now the Catholic Church's unique challenge here
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  is Catholics recognize the authority of the Pope,
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  but China opposes foreign control over religious
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  institutions. This created two Catholic communities,
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  official Catholics and underground Catholics.
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  See, every time you try to follow doctrine, there's
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  a roadblock and it splits you. So the 2018 Vatican
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  -China agreement attempted to resolve disputes.
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  over bishop appointments but remains controversial
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  human rights watch reports pressure on underground
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  catholics and cases where beijing appointed bishops
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  without vatican consultation well what does that
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  tell you what kind of bishops are they is the
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  government going to appoint certainly not some
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  that are going to speak 100 from the doctrine
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  without mixing in the propaganda So a key example
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  in 2023, Beijing transferred Bishop Joseph Shen
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  Bin to Shanghai without prior Vatican consultation.
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  Must have been a reason why they did that. Also,
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  let's look at the Protestant case studies. The
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  Zion Church. The Zion Church. Founded by Pastor
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  Ezra Jin, became one of China's best -known unregistered
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  churches. In October 2025, authorities launched
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  a nationwide crackdown. Nearly 30 pastors and
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  members were arrested. Pastor Jin was released
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  in July of 26 after the U .S. intervention, but
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  eight members still remain detained today. The
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  Early Rain Covenant Church. That was founded
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  in 2005. Early Rain has faced repeated crackdowns.
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  was sentenced to nine years in 2019. Raids and
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  arrests continue in 2026. The pattern's clear.
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  Church refuses registration. Authorities then
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  intervene. Leaders are detained. Congregations
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  have to reorganize. Authorities intervene again.
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  So here's China's position. For credibility,
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  we must present China's own argument. China says
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  Christianity is permitted. Citizens enjoy freedom
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  of religious belief. Religious activity must
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  be normal and lawful. Religious institutions
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  must be independent of foreign control. Religion
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  must adapt to socialist society. Those are what
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  their position is. So China's position is not
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  Christianity is illegal. It is Christianity is
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  permitted but only with the state's regulatory
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  system. So here's the fundamental disagreement.
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  Three perspectives collide. Beijing. Religion
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  is allowed, but must be lawful, patriotic, and
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  free of foreign influence. The independent churches.
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  Registration, surveillance, censorship prevent
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  churches from functioning independently. Then
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  is the international religious freedom organizations.
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  China imposes severe restrictions and seeks ideological
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  control over religion. So the theological question
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  is, who is Lord? For Christians, Jesus Christ
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  is the head of the church. For the Chinese state,
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  religious institutions must operate under Chinese
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  law and within the political system of the People's
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  Republic. This creates an unavoidable tension
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  whenever the state demands political loyalty
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  above religious conviction. The question is not,
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  can Christians worship Jesus in China? They can.
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  The deeper question is, can Christians organize,
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  evangelize, teach their children, publish, communicate,
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  choose leaders, and express their beliefs independently
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  of the Communist Party. The evidence shows these
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  activities are heavily restricted outside the
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  registered system. So the answer simply there
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  is no. Not without government oversight and regulation.
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  So China tells the world that Christians are
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  free to worship, and in one sense they are. Churches
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  exist. Bibles exist. Millions gather for worship.
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  But freedom is more than a private belief. Freedom
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  includes the ability to teach your children,
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  gather the believers, choose your leaders, preach
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  your convictions, communicate openly, and organize
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  your church without placing political loyalty
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  above religious conviction. So the question isn't
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  whether Christianity can exist under Communist
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  Party control. It already does. The question
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  is, how much freedom can Christianity retain
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  when the state decides where Christians may worship,
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  when they may worship, and what they may teach,
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  they may say online, and who may lead them, and
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  what their children may learn. That's a lot.
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  And that leads us to our larger question of the
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  series. Does freedom die only when faith is outlawed,
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  or can freedom begin dying long before anyone
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  closes the church doors? Thank you for listening
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  today to Voices of Life, when freedom dies series,
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  and we're talking about China. I'm Pastor David.
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  And we'll talk to you soon. You're listening
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  to Voices of Life. When Freedom Dies, a teaching
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  series from the Church for Life. Today, Pastor
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  David takes us into one of the most complex and
• 13:33
  misunderstood stories of religious freedom in
• 13:36
  the modern world, Christianity in China. China
• 13:40
  says its citizens enjoy freedom of religious
• 13:43
  belief. Churches exist, Bibles exist, millions
• 13:47
  of Christians gather for worship. But the same
• 13:50
  government also requires churches to accept Communist
• 13:53
  Party leadership, government supervision, and
• 13:57
  an officially approved interpretation of religious
• 13:59
  life. So the question is not simply, does Christianity
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  exist in China? It does the deeper question is,
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  how much freedom can Christianity retain under
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  Communist Party control? Here is Pastor David.