China: theological turmoil - justification by love

This past autumn I had a seven-week journey through eight provinces of China and was made aware of a serious theological threat to the unity of this country's fast-growing Church.

Since 1996 Bishop K. H. Ting (Ding Guang-xun) has been advocating with a sense of urgency a Faith Reform Movement, the teaching of which strikes at the very heart of Protestant theology. This concept was enunciated when the Three Self Patriotic Movement was formed in the early 1950s.

The three strands of this movement were Self-Support, Self-Government and Self-Propagation. The third one did not only require that the Chinese Church sends out its own pastors and preachers, but that it should remove 'the yoke' of Western theology and create a theological system uniquely its own.

Justification by faith?

Although Ting has referred to this concept down the years, he has given special thought to its realisation and acceptance during the past four years. He has stated that he has long dreamed of the establishment of Socialist Christianity in China, complaining that the doctrine of Justification by Faith poses a political threat in Chinese society. 'It advocates the negation of morality, and undermines the Gospel's ethical and moral substance', he alleges. In this he has the support of the Communist party and government. Ting wants the Church re-educated, removing elements in its present beliefs which Chinese society cannot accept - that all people are sinners, that humans cannot save themselves and that there is no single way to salvation. He has said, 'Justification by Faith should be changed to Justification by Love. The highest attribute of God is love and not His righteousness.'

The pressure behind the Faith Reform Movement is gathering momentum and its principles are fast becoming the test for seminary appointments at Nanjing and for pastoral accreditation.

Matters came to a head in 1998 when the Religious Affairs Bureau sent its Assistant Director, Mr. Liu Shu-xiang, to carry out an Assessment of the Jinling Union Theological Seminary, aimed at evaluating the standard of teaching and the qualification of its lecturers. The students felt that Ting (Principal) and Chen Ze-min (Vice Principal) engineered the Assessment to their own ends. At its conclusion, three final year students were asked to leave the seminary.

The majority of students strongly opposed this decision. Some graduate students went to Ting's home to plead for the three. The Students' Union appealed for a re-consideration. Others sympathetic with the three students dared not speak out. But Ting and Chen stuck to their original decision.

A further three students left in protest at this incident. They stated: 'The leaders of the seminary have forfeited the trust and respect of the churches. The TSPM to which they belong is not a church, yet it sets itself above the churches and acts like a subsidiary to the government's Religious Affairs Bureau.'

Professor sacked

The next step taken by the Faith Reform group was the sacking of Professor Ji Tai in June 2000. Ji is well known and loved throughout China as a sound theologian and orthodox Christian.

The reason given for Ji's dismissal was that he had abused his position as a professor and pastor to engage in illegal religious activities (this included giving training and preaching outside the TSPM). Further, Ji never attended 'political studies' at the seminary or the weekly flag-raising ceremony (where one had to bow to the national flag). Ting listed these 'misdeeds' and further announced that Ji's position as a pastor had been suspended.

Ji is a graduate of the seminary, studied theology in Germany for three years and returned to his alma mater as a professor in theology. Soon he was on the Board of the Chinese Bible society, a director of the Research Department of the seminary, Associate Editor of the China Theological Review.

I had a meal with Pastor Ji Tai. Stripped of all the positions already mentioned, his business card which he gave me simply read 'A servant of the Lord Jesus Christ'. His wife, still lecturing at the seminary, is the family breadwinner. He told me that there had been a serious 'brain drain' at the seminary. He listed six professors who had either left for overseas or not taken up posts offered to them. Apologetics, Romans and Revelation had been removed from the academic syllabus. Ji spoke with a quiet confidence that the Lord would guide him in the coming months

Increasing influence

During the year 2000, the influence of Ting's beliefs was increasing. At a conference in Qingdao in August, the delegates concluded that 'the revelation of God is still developing'. At the celebration in Beijing in September of the 50th anniversary of the China Christian Council, Ting appealed for the place of Justification by Faith in the church's thinking to be toned down as something offensive to socialist thinking.

The view is gaining ground that the writings of Ting is the contemporary Bible in China. There is a danger of him becoming a cult figure. One pastor reminded me about the Book of Mormon and the place of Joseph Smith in Mormonism. In St. Paul's Church, Nanjing, the Order of Service bulletin quotes the words of Ting alongside Scriptural quotations.

Open challenge

Many Chinese Christians are openly challenging the teachings of the Faith Reform Movement and are ready to leave the TSPM to worship in house church groups. At the moment, the vast majority of evangelicals are striving to witness to their convictions in the seminaries and pulpits of the TSPM.

Clearly the indications are there that an open division may well be coming. The house church movement, with its five large groupings, is becoming more unified and less fragmented. Many see this as a viable alternative to constant involvement in theological disputes.

The Church in China needs our prayers.

The author, the Rev. Dr. Norman Cliff was born in China and has written books on the history of missions there. He has visited the country eight times. Dr. Cliff is a retired minister of the United Reformed Church.