Are they burning the Bible in China?

By Jerry Newcombe

At the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, they have a display of many burned Bibles. This is the book that, down through the centuries, has been burned more than any other. Ironically, that even happened sometimes at the hand of church officials.

Now there are reports out of China of Bibles being burned. The Associated Press reports that the Communist government is cracking down on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches, and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China.

Bob Fu of China Aid, a group in the U.S. that works to help the church in China, said, "The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief."

The AP also notes that the Chinese government is reportedly "demanding loyalty to the officially atheist Communist Party and eliminating any challenge to its power over people's lives."

Wendy Wright, president of Christian Freedom International, notes that in addition to Bible-burning in China, there is suppression of the Word of God through internet censorship. In a recent interview, she told our viewers at D. James Kennedy Ministries, "Bibles online [are] being censored. Now if you're in China, you're not able to access a Bible online."

Interestingly, in a 2011 article in the Iona Institute for Religion and Society, Tom O'Gorman wrote: "In the West we are doing our best to destroy our Christian heritage; but in China, Chinese intellectuals are coming around to the view that it is precisely this heritage that has made the West so successful."

I hope the day will come that neither China nor the West will continue to burn or to ban the Bible, but instead, to open it up and to learn of its rich legacy available to all. For D. James Kennedy Ministries, I'm Jerry Newcombe.

© Jerry Newcombe