Growth of Christianity Has Re-shaped Religious Landscape in China
by Jennifer Gold
Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The growth of Christianity among intellectuals has fundamentally “reshaped the religious landscape in China”, says a leading Chinese academic and editor of what’s described as the country's “most authoritative” journal on religion.

Edmond Tang, from the University of Birmingham, is editor of the new-look China Study Journal which will be launched by Churches Together in Britain & Ireland (CTBI) on Monday 26 March. “Today it is an open secret that Christian fellowships – a new kind of 'house church', run by Chinese professors and students, are active in most Chinese universities. More than 30 academic faculties and research centres are devoted to the study of a once maligned religion.
The question is why.”

However, Tang added: “It is not enough today just to document what is happening on the ground. It is equally important, if not more so, to know what people are thinking religiously, and how that relates to the moral and spiritual questions that are debated by the educated Chinese. This is where the real heartbeat of a new China can be found.” the rest