Supporters of China Bible Exhibit Praise Progress, Point Out Problems

NEW YORK – Praise and criticism have followed the Church in China’s Bible Ministry Exhibition from its first opening in Los Angeles to the last leg of its U.S. tour in New York.

As persecution watchdogs and some Chinese-American Christian leaders are quick to point out well-documented religious and human rights violations in China, others, including the Exhibit’s most honorary chairman and advisory committee members, are taking a more moderate approach, praising the Exhibit as well as pointing out the issues in China that require improvement.

The Exhibit was received warmly by some as a rare opportunity to understand and see the growth and expansion of Christianity and the Bible ministry in China. Among the long list of prominent American Christian leaders supporting the Exhibit are the Rev. Billy Graham, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, and Crystal Cathedral’s founder and former senior pastor Dr. Robert H. Schuller.

Carter, who is one of the Exhibit’s Most Honorary Chairman, praised the Exhibit during his speech at the opening ceremony in Atlanta as “remarkable” and said he was “proud” of the positive changes in religious freedom in China.

“It was a transforming event in the history of global Christianity – from almost nonexistent recognizable Christians [to where there] are now 24 million – and I’m very proud of what the Chinese people have done,” said Carter.

However, the former U.S. president – whose historic meeting with Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970’s significantly helped open up freedom of worship in China – qualified his praise by pointing out that there is still “too much intolerance, there is too much of an effort to dominate one another, there is too much of an inclination to be exclusive, and trying to define the relationship between a person and God for someone else” in China, as well as in the United States.

Furthermore, Carter said clearly that he disagrees with China’s official policy of requiring churches to register with the government.

“I know that it is required that Christian be registered. I understand the motivation behind it and I disagree with it,” said Carter. “I don’t think there should be any impediments to a group of people who want to worship God in a community or congregation and this is a challenge for the Chinese political leaders and for those who worship.

“Many Chinese Christians don’t have any problem with the requirements that congregations be registered. I understand that and I admire those who comply. There are the equally dedicated Christians who don’t accept the right of the government to require registration. I understand their position as well.”

The Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Church in China opened its first showing at the Crystal Cathedral in California in late April as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was preparing to release its annual recommendation to the U.S. State Department. China was recommended to be re-designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for “pervasive and severe violations of religious freedom.”

Shortly after, in May, President Bush for the first time met with three prominent Chinese Christians associated with China’s “underground” house church in the White House and, following the meeting, vowed to bring up the issue of religious freedom with Chinese president Hu Jintao in future talks.

During the Exhibit’s final U.S. opening ceremony on Monday in New York, the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, National Council of Churches’ (NCC) general secretary and a member of the Exhibit’s advisory committee, commented to The Christian Post that he was “delighted” to see the distribution of the Gospel in China but wanted to see the country improve human rights.

“We want to have full open and diplomatic relations with China but there are still some human rights violations that need to be highlighted,” said Edgar. “If we can build some bridges around Bible distribution perhaps it will open some doors for others.”

NCC is the publisher of the Revised Standard Version and the New Standard Version of the Bible.

Another member of the Exhibition’s New York planning committee, Dr. Charles C. West, board member and representative of the Foundation for Theological Education in South East Asia, expressed uncertainty about the true condition of current church in China.

“I don’t know,” said West when asked how he would describe the Church in China currently. “The Church in China now is so deep and so broad that I don’t think that even the people in the China Christian Council (CCC) know all about it.

“There are many churches that are not related to them, but they’re trying to reach out to them. So I think that’s good, but you have the open churches and you’ve got the quiet churches.”

West was in China from 1947 to 1950 – two years before the communist government took control and one year after – and noted the instability of the government during that period and the struggle of Chinese churches to establish churches independent of foreign missionaries.

The issues of religious freedom and human rights have improved in China in comparison to initial conditions under early communist rule. The Bible ministry have also expanded and become more accessible than in the past. However, like many of the supporters of the Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Churches in China have noted, there remain many much needed improvements for the future.

Christian Post reporter Lillian Kwon in New York contributed to this report.