George N. Patterson

Written in 1968, it is a fairly good account of how missionaries were expelled, what Chinese Christians did to adapt and how the Chinese Communist Party tried to bring Christians under its control.

It starts with an overview of Christianity in China going back to the Nestorians. Most of that is to set up what happens next. When it discusses the Communists taking over, it divides Missionaries into three groups: Conservatives, Fundamentalists and Evangelicals. The first two are concerned with saving souls. The third was looking to the social gospel. The difference between conservatives and fundamentalists was the antipathy they held for liberals. Fundamentalists would work against liberals, while conservatives would not. He includes Catholics as a separate category because of their long presence and their staunchly anti-Communist view. He says that most missionaries favored the GMD even with its corruption, but a few favored the CCP as a welcome change. Old missionaries found that minority naive. When the Communists took control, most missionaries wanted to stay and fight it out, but it became clear that Chinese Christians didn't want them. The CIM gave the clearout order in January 1951. Most others followed, but Catholics didn't. There was a disagreement about whether their presence would help Chinese Christians. Some were imprisoned while others were expelled. COmmunism was mixed with nationalism, both of which made it anti-religion (if the religion was foreign), so missionaries had to go.

When discussing the Three-Self Movement, he has some nice detail based on Memoirs and the Three-Self Documents. He discusses YT Wu's "conversion" to Christianity because unlike missionaries, they practiced what they preached and cared about the welfare of the people. He also talks about another leader from a Seminary who support the Communists because they put their words into action. He talks about it like he has faith rather than reason. In fact, the author makes several comparisons along those lines, including that brainwashing is similar to the process of religious conversion. His presentation of struggle meetings also had a feeling of a revival, except based on hate. He gives a lot of detail, mainly from memoirs, of Christians being mistreated and of the general brutality of the regime. He finishes by showing that the CCP had managed to cut off Chinese Christians from their foreign support by the end of 1952.

He continues with how the Three-Self Movement grows, which is to say it incorporates more people but limits what they can do. They can't "preach reactionary doctrine", "try to get people to become Christians on the plea that Christ can heal the sick", "invite freelance evangelists to preach in our churches", "attend or preach in underground services in homes". This must: "cooperate with the government's religious policy", "expose free-lance evangelists and underground home services", "economical", "discipline our bodies", "take part in every socialist campaign". It also outlined the "five loves" which were: "the country, the party, socialism, the Three-Self Movement and labor". They changed the name of the Three Self Reform Movement to the Three Self Patriotic Movement to win over Christians who thought reform meant influencing doctrine or the inner workings of the church. But all of this was clearly meant to control the church. It also included persecuting churches who didn't joint the Three Self Movement, such as the Little Flock or Wang Ming-tao's Tabernacle.

The book goes on to show how non-Protestants were treated. Initially, they were harassed, but were tolerated until 1955, when the CCP felt strong enough to bring it completely under its control. Even removing missionaries was not enough. The Catholic Church in China had to renounce all association with the Vatican, which it did. This drove Catholics underground, much as Protestants had been with the Three-Self Movement. Those home churches were without official support, but showed the strength of Chinese Christianity in China.

The book finishes with the current situation (meaning 1968) and how to promote Christianity in China in the future. It has a surprisingly prescient view, recognizing the beginning of the communications revolution and the ability to communicate across the world. The author calls for a new form of mission, which accepts a Christianity adapted for Asia and promotes cooperation among all Christians. He believes this new communications revolution will help bring Christianity closer to the ideal of ecumenism and universal brotherhood, although he accepts that would be difficult in the short term in China.

Overall, this is a very interesting book on Christianity in the early PRC. It makes nice background for someone just getting into the subject. There are newer books that cover similar ground and with better sources, but this is concise and easy to read. Despite being almost 50 years old, it is worth a look if you are interested in how the Communists dealt with Christianity in the 1950s.… (altro)