NEWS//Sinicizing the Church

China’s government-sanctioned China Christian Council and Three-Self Patriotic Movement are halfway through a five-year plan to adapt the message of Christianity to promote Chinese socialism.

Sinicization

The key concept in transforming the message of the gospel to align with Chinese socialism is sinicization. Sino refers to China or things that are Chinese. The Mirriam Webster dictionary says sinicize means to modify by Chinese influence.

In 2018, the Christian Council and the Three-Self Church adopted a document that describes how they will transform the Bible’s teachings into a tool that will better support socialism. (You can read the document here.)

According to the document, The persistence of Sinicization by the religions in our country is guided by the core values of socialism, promoting the excellent traditions of the Chinese nation, nurturing the concepts of unity, progress, peace and tolerance…. Based on the Bible, the Sinicization of Christianity… practices the core values of socialism, spreads the gospel, witnesses Christ and manages the church well.

Transforming Bible truths

The document calls for reshaping the message of the Bible so it conforms to socialism’s teachings.

• Bible study needs to be strengthened to establish a correct view of the Bible and the biblical hermeneutics in conformity with the situation in China as a foundation for deepening the development of theological thought.

• Contents of the Bible that are compatible with the core values of socialism should be deeply researched in order to write books that are popular and easy-to-understand.

Consequently, the emphasis in theological education for church leaders is impacted. Curriculums require a higher proportion of teaching on the core values of socialism, patriotism, Chinese history, literature, philosophy and arts along with other traditional culture.

Sources: Union of Catholic Asian News, Patheos, National Review, ChinaSource