Four American missionaries who intended to carry more than 300 Bibles into China say Chinese authorities have confiscated the holy books at an airport.
Patrick Klein, 46, and three volunteers with Vision Beyond Borders, a Sheridan, Wyo.-based evangelical organization, moved to a motel Monday after staying in the Kunming airport in southwestern China for two nights in protest, a ministry spokeswoman said.
“The government was asking them to leave (the airport) but they were asking for the Bibles back before they were willing to leave,” said Dyann Romeijn, a regional coordinator with the ministry who is based in Billings, Montana.
I hold little sympathy for these so-called missionaries. I suspect they deliberately violated China’s customs laws for PR and fund-raising purposes.
They could have arranged in advance to purchase the Bibles in China, then delivered them to leaders of house churches or whoever. Various groups (including the Graham organization) have been doing this for years.
The United Bible Societies and Chinese churches formed a joint-venture in 1988. Amity Printing Company in Nanjing has printed more than 50 million Bibles since then, 41 million of them distributed in China. Chinese churches provided free Bibles at the Olympics and sponsored church services for athletes and other Olympics personnel. Some booksellers in Shanghai and elsewhere have acclaimed the Bible as a bestseller. (Bibles ARE available in bookshops, if you know where to go, and they are available through most churches.)
Amity has been able to update its equipment and facilities to become one of the largest printing companies in the world, now capable of producing 12 million Bibles a year.
However, raising money in America to purchase and distribute made-in-China Bibles apparently isn’t nearly as financially rewarding or as glamorously attractive as illegally smuggling in Bibles made elsewhere.
w.w.
When will people realize that Communism is and always has been an atheistic form of Government, Stalin was not unique among Communists in repressing religious expression. All Communist countries persecute and suppress those who engage in religious practices. This is a fundamental tenet of Communism originating with Karl Marx and continuing to the present time.
This repression of religion has lead communist countries to not only persecute those who wish to practice their religion but to also persecute those who are foolish enough to believe that they can get away with freedom of speech.
Let’s get something straight here: The only religion in China is that which is officially recognized and permitted by the State. House churches are discredited and officially frowned upon.
I also wonder about the Bibles which are permitted to be published in China; how accurate are the translations, and what do they actually teach the people?
w.w., Post 1,
These people do not need your sympathy but they deserve your respect. It is not reasonable for them to purchase Bibles in each country where they distribute the Bible.
Would you please tell me if China allows any books printed outside of China to be brought into the country?
It is only fair to let tourists know what books and how many they may bring into China before they make a trip to your country.
#3 – funny you should ask. I know something about this. Most of my congregants are PRC. I also converse with people who work closely with the church in China and I can tell you that the English translations available are pretty much what we use here (with their weaknesses as well as strengths). As for Chinese translations do not look for conspiracies where there appear not to be. This is not to say all Chinese translations are “good” in the sense of clear and/or accurate (in the sense of rendering well the original).
The first person to teach a university course on Bible since the Communist Revolution is oddly enough a product of the same small graduate program where I earned my doctorate. (He started when I was leaving.) Chen Yiyi of Beijing University has written an article that surveys the history and characteristics of Chinese translations of the Bible.
My best information is that smuggling Bibles into China is basically unnecessary. (Pretty much what w w says above.) Not to mention grossly inefficient in terms of cost. (Pay $10 here versus same thing for $3 over there.) I do not entirely share the common suspicion toward registered churches one finds among conservative Christians in this country. (But neither will I denigrate the house churches.)
My one concern about the current arrangement is the limit on numbers printed. 14 million is a lot and we should be glad for that. But what if Chinese Christians need more? (Generally the quota goes up when that is the case.)
Rick in Louisiana,
1. If this group does have time to purchase Bibles in China, are they allowed to privately distribute them to whoever they privately intend to receive them?
2. Why is bringing Bibles to China in order to give them away for free considered “smuggling”?
3. Does the Chinese government allow all of its citizens the right to purchase Bibles that are printed in China?
4. What is the price of a Bible for the average Chinese citizen who is brave enough to purchase one?
Had to know there wouldn’t be an Episcopalian here.