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China's Protestant Churches to Adhere to "Three-Self" Principles
China's Protestant churches will adhere to their "Three-Self" principles of self-administration, self-support and self-propagation.
Meanwhile, the churches are undertaking theological studies in order for the development of Christian churches to be compliant with the country's socialist society.
These remarks were made by Ding Guangxun, honorary chairman of The Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua Thursday.
The 85-year old Chinese bishop, who is also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the honorary chairman of the Christian Council of China, has been in Beijing attending a memorial conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the launching of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in China.
The theological studies of Chinese churches are not aimed at changing the basic belief of Christianity but allowing new interpretation for the basic belief and creed of the religion, he said.
Currently, local priests are preaching in a way similar to foreign missionaries in the 19th century and part of their preaching is not suitable for socialist society, according to the bishop.
As an example, he noted, local priests are insisting on the contradiction between believers and non-believers by stressing that the believers will ascend to Heaven but the others will descend to Hell.
This kind of preaching has made many Chinese believers very sorrowful, as family members that do not believe in God will not ascend to Heaven, Ding said.
In reality, there are many truthful, kind and good people who are not Christians, he said, questioning, "Are all of these people going to descend to the Hell?" As a result, many local priests hope to have a reasonable explanation, he added.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China has set up a special group to promote the theological studies across the country, the bishop said. The work of the group has been warmly supported by all local believers, he said.
The group now is dealing with the issue of publication by local Christian churches, as local Christian publishers are still publishing articles that are not compliant with the Chinese society, Ding said.
Quoting President Jiang Zemin as saying that religions should be actively made compliant to the socialist society, Ding said it is not a matter of lip service and must be done in the true sense.
"I always recall the past five decades with a thankful heart," said the bishop, "the Three-Self Patriotic Movement launched 50 years ago has cut off the ties of Chinese Christian churches with imperialistic invaders and helped them get rid of the control by foreign missionaries, which has enabled local Christians to take the patriotic and self-reliant road."
The current theological studies in China is an inevitable result of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the continued efforts by local Christian churches to adapt to the development of the Chinese society, he stressed.
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