With the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) being held in Beijing on October 16-22, the magazine “China Religion” rolled out a special topic named “Religious Work in the Past Decade”, inviting Party and government leaders, representatives of religious circles, and representatives of religious research teams to contribute articles on the topic.
In the ninth issue of “China Religion” in 2022, Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), wrote an article “Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword: Continue to Deepen and Realize the Sinicization of Christianity”, which was also released on October 3 by the WeChat account of SARA (China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs).
Xu mentioned that the term “Sinicization of Christianity” in the writings of Tsu Chen Chao (a Protestant theologian) and Timothy Ting-fang Liu (a Protestant educator), was more viewed from the standpoint of missionary and apologetics.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Bishop K. H. Ting once again put forward the concept of “adapting Christianity to the socialist society”. He said, “We insist on the Sinicization of Christianity, in other words, it should be localized… Because as far as the church is concerned, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) advocates the sinicization of the church which will be more Chinese, just as the British church and the American church have their own characteristics.” So the TSPM was also considered as part of the effort to sinicize Christianity, Xu added.
Xu summed up the “three characteristics” of the Sinicization of Christianity: modern nature, leading power, and cultural nature. He advocated that the “stigma of foreign religion” should be constantly eliminated in China’s Christianity, which could realize its true “self” theologically.
To support China’s churches’ persistence in the direction of Sinicization, CCC&TSPM decided to conduct seminars around different themes every year, such as “Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Bishop K. H. Ting’s Birth and the Seminar on the Sinicization of Christianity”, “Remember the 500th Anniversary of the Religious Reform and Seminar on the Sinicization of Christianity”, and “Commemorating the Centenary of the Publication of the Chinese Union Version Bible (CUV) and Discussing the Sinicization of Christianity”. Making explorations in the faith practice and forms of expression, Pastor Xu and Rev. Kan Baoping, vice president and director general of the China Christian Council (CCC), edited the book Holy To the Lord—A Glimpse of Chinese Church Architecture published in 2015, introducing modern churches and churches incorporating Chinese element churches or in ethnic style. In recent years, CCC&TSPM has compiled a sinicized hymnal and revised a catechism pamphlet.
Xu once formulated the “Outline of the Five-Year Work Plan for Promoting the Sinicization of Christianity in China (2018-2022)”, which aimed to clarify the significance, basic connotations, goals, and tasks of localization of Christianity and how to promote the process.
He said, “This year, we will continue to formulate the next five-year Sinicization plan which is problem oriented. On the basis of the past five years’ experience, we will strive to break some bottlenecks in work to innovate work ideas and methods.”
“It is an important task to incorporate the theological thoughts and the results of the seminar on the indigenization of Christianity into sermons which have been compiled into volumes by CCC&TSPM. In addition to strengthening the construction of the preaching team for the Sinicization of Christianity, CCC&TSPM has published five volumes of sermons from preaching exchanges.”
With the propaganda groups being established in most provinces, autonomous regions, and direct-administered municipalities of China, CCC&TSPM has strengthened the training of pastoral staff in ethnic minority areas.
“In the future process of developing Christianity in the Chinese context, besides the in-depth study of Bishop K. H. Ting ‘s treatises, CCC&TSPM is engaged in compiling and publishing the articles on sinicizing Christianity by Tsu Chen Chao, Wu Leichuan (a leading Chinese theologian), Timothy Ting-fang Liu, Cheng Ching-yi (a Chinese Protestant leader), Zheng Jianye (Chinese Anglican bishop), Bishop Shen Yifan, and Chen Zemin,” Xu concluded.
– Translated by Abigail Wu
(正值中国共产党第二十次全国代表大会10月16日至22日在北京召开，《中国宗教》策划“宗教工作这十年”专题，邀请党政领导干部队伍、宗教界代表人士队伍、宗教学研究队伍的代表性人士围绕这一主题撰稿。
在2022年9期的《中国宗教》中，“微言宗教”10月3日发布，中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会主席徐晓鸿撰文《十年磨一剑 持续推进基督教中国化走深走实》。
他提出 中国教会前辈如赵紫宸、刘廷芳等人的著述中常有提及“基督教中国化”一词，那时更多的是站在宣教和护教的立场来阐述的。20世纪八、九十年代，丁光训主教从与社会主义社会相协调、相适应的角度再次提出“基督教中国化”的概念，他说：“我们没有放松使中国教会中国化的努力，那就是说，它应当中国化”“因为就教会而论，三自不过主张教会的中国化，主张它发展中国特点，正像英国的教会有英国特点，美国的教会有美国特点一样。”正因为如此，三自爱国运动也被认为是基督教中国化努力的一部分。
徐将其归纳为基督教中国化的“三性”，即时代性、引领性和文化性。基于历史包袱，他倡导，们要不断消除基督教的“洋教”烙印，同时在神学上建立真正的“自我”。
为了持续推进我国基督教的中国化方向，基督教全国两会确定每年围绕不同的主题开展研讨活动，如“纪念丁光训主教诞辰100周年暨基督教中国化研讨会”“纪念宗教改革500周年暨基督教中国化研讨会”“纪念《圣经（和合本）》出版100周年暨基督教中国化研讨会”等；同时，也在信仰实践和表达形式上做出了有益探索，2015年，由徐和阚保平牧师主编的《归耶和华为圣——中国教堂建筑掠影》出版，对中国元素教堂、民族风格教堂和现代建筑教堂进行介绍；近年来，基督教全国两会积极编著具有中国风格的赞美诗《华韵新歌》；修订增写《要道问答》等。
在规划上，基督教全国两会由徐牵头着手制定了《推进我国基督教中国化五年工作规划纲要（2018-2022）》，旨在阐明基督教中国化的重要意义、基本内涵、目标任务及推进基督教中国化的具体举措和组织保障。
他说，“ 今年，我们还将继续制定《推进我国基督教中国化五年工作规划纲要（2023-2027）》，新的《规划纲要》将以问题为导向，在总结五年来推进基督教中国化工作经验的基础上，创新工作思路和方法，争取破解一些工作中的瓶颈，使基督教中国化的推进工作不断走深走实。”
“将神学思想和基督教中国化研讨的成果转化为讲台信息是一项重要的工作。为此，基督教全国两会加强了基督教中国化宣讲团的工作……这些讲章现已汇编成册，目前已出版了5册《中国基督教讲道交流会讲道集》。”
目前大多数省、自治区、直辖市基督教两会已成立了宣讲团。对一些教职人员缺乏的地方，如一些少数民族地区，基督教全国两会加大少数民族地区教职人员培训力度。
“在今后持续推进基督教中国化的过程中，基督教全国两会除了深入研究丁光训主教的论著外，对赵紫宸、吴雷川、刘廷芳、诚静怡、郑建业、沈以藩、陈泽民等前辈的中国化论述也应予以整理出版，”他写道。
徐晓鸿：十年磨一剑 持续推进基督教中国化走深走实
With the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) being held in Beijing on October 16-22, the magazine “China Religion” rolled out a special topic named “Religious Work in the Past Decade”, inviting Party and government leaders, representatives of religious circles, and representatives of religious research teams to contribute articles on the topic.
In the ninth issue of “China Religion” in 2022, Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), wrote an article “Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword: Continue to Deepen and Realize the Sinicization of Christianity”, which was also released on October 3 by the WeChat account of SARA (China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs).
Xu mentioned that the term “Sinicization of Christianity” in the writings of Tsu Chen Chao (a Protestant theologian) and Timothy Ting-fang Liu (a Protestant educator), was more viewed from the standpoint of missionary and apologetics.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Bishop K. H. Ting once again put forward the concept of “adapting Christianity to the socialist society”. He said, “We insist on the Sinicization of Christianity, in other words, it should be localized… Because as far as the church is concerned, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) advocates the sinicization of the church which will be more Chinese, just as the British church and the American church have their own characteristics.” So the TSPM was also considered as part of the effort to sinicize Christianity, Xu added.
Xu summed up the “three characteristics” of the Sinicization of Christianity: modern nature, leading power, and cultural nature. He advocated that the “stigma of foreign religion” should be constantly eliminated in China’s Christianity, which could realize its true “self” theologically.
To support China’s churches’ persistence in the direction of Sinicization, CCC&TSPM decided to conduct seminars around different themes every year, such as “Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Bishop K. H. Ting’s Birth and the Seminar on the Sinicization of Christianity”, “Remember the 500th Anniversary of the Religious Reform and Seminar on the Sinicization of Christianity”, and “Commemorating the Centenary of the Publication of the Chinese Union Version Bible (CUV) and Discussing the Sinicization of Christianity”. Making explorations in the faith practice and forms of expression, Pastor Xu and Rev. Kan Baoping, vice president and director general of the China Christian Council (CCC), edited the book Holy To the Lord—A Glimpse of Chinese Church Architecture published in 2015, introducing modern churches and churches incorporating Chinese element churches or in ethnic style. In recent years, CCC&TSPM has compiled a sinicized hymnal and revised a catechism pamphlet.
Xu once formulated the “Outline of the Five-Year Work Plan for Promoting the Sinicization of Christianity in China (2018-2022)”, which aimed to clarify the significance, basic connotations, goals, and tasks of localization of Christianity and how to promote the process.
He said, “This year, we will continue to formulate the next five-year Sinicization plan which is problem oriented. On the basis of the past five years’ experience, we will strive to break some bottlenecks in work to innovate work ideas and methods.”
“It is an important task to incorporate the theological thoughts and the results of the seminar on the indigenization of Christianity into sermons which have been compiled into volumes by CCC&TSPM. In addition to strengthening the construction of the preaching team for the Sinicization of Christianity, CCC&TSPM has published five volumes of sermons from preaching exchanges.”
With the propaganda groups being established in most provinces, autonomous regions, and direct-administered municipalities of China, CCC&TSPM has strengthened the training of pastoral staff in ethnic minority areas.
“In the future process of developing Christianity in the Chinese context, besides the in-depth study of Bishop K. H. Ting ‘s treatises, CCC&TSPM is engaged in compiling and publishing the articles on sinicizing Christianity by Tsu Chen Chao, Wu Leichuan (a leading Chinese theologian), Timothy Ting-fang Liu, Cheng Ching-yi (a Chinese Protestant leader), Zheng Jianye (Chinese Anglican bishop), Bishop Shen Yifan, and Chen Zemin,” Xu concluded.
– Translated by Abigail Wu
We Continue to Develop Christianity in the Chinese Context: Chairman of CCC&TSPM
