Tag History
The Death of Chairman Mao – History for September 9
On this date in 1976, Mao Zedong, or Chairman Mao, founder of the communist People’s Republic of China, died at the age of 82. Some look at Mao’s death as a positive turning point for Christianity in China, since under Mao China had expelled all Western Christian missionaries between 1949 and 1953. However, while it is impossible to come up with precise numbers across a 3.7 million square mile country, Christians probably were about 1 percent of China’s population when Western missionaries were kicked out, but by the 1980s about 5 percent of the population went by Christ’s name. The Christian population grew by ten times, while the overall population doubled. How did this happen?
Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom, authors of the book “Clouds of Witnesses” say the key to this growth was “the resilience of the Chinese believers themselves…securely rooted in Chinese life before Mao.” [1] In expelling missionaries, Mao was in part responding to “treaty ports” created at the end of the 1839-42 Opium War. Through these ports foreign powers had extra territorial rights, allowing influences including missionaries to come in, but these ports also allowed opium to flow freely into China from Western countries. Therefore, in the mind of many Chinese, Christianity became linked with both Western imperialism and opium addiction. When Karl Marx said “religion is the opiate of the masses” he may have been thinking of this connection. But native Chinese believers, sometimes planted by Europe-based evangelizing organizations like China Inland Mission, remained behind and spread resilient forms of Christianity that were attractive to the Chinese population.
John Sung
Several of these Chinese Christians are profiled by Noll and Nystrom, including John Sung who lived from 1901 to 1944, before Mao’s communist revolution. Around Christmas 1926, Sung heard child evangelist Uldine Utley preach a sermon at Calvary Baptist Church in New York, near where he was attending Union Theological Seminary. This sermon, along with other influences, countered the liberal Christianity he was being taught where the Bible was just “a collection of myths.” He returned to China, determined to spread the gospel in the land of his birth with frenetic energy. In a one-year period in 1931-2, Sung and a small group of missionaries “traveled over 50,000 miles, held 1,200 meetings, preached to more than 400,000 people in thirteen provinces, registered more than 18,000 ‘decisions’” for Christ. Many of these new Christians formed traveling bands themselves. Sung is considered the last great evangelist in China and Southeast Asia before Mao’s reign.
Dora Yu
Even earlier, another driver of this resilient, Chinese Christianity was Dora Yu (1873-1931). Dora’s ministry benefitted tremendously from a 1905 decision by Dowager Empress Cixi to replace China’s traditional Confucian civil service examinations with general public schools. Under this system, mission-run schools became a valued option, and one of Dora’s early ministries was to train “Bible women” to not only educate women generally, but also to teach them the Bible, pray with them, and teach them to live by faith. Mostly traveling by foot, in “1903, Dora Yu visited with 925 women and 211 children.” Later, her ministry grew and she became famous for itinerant preaching, reaching many others who would carry on the Lord’s work.
Because of our proneness to look at
Watchman Nee
the bucket and forget the fountain,
God has frequently to change His
means of supply to keep
our eyes fixed on the source
Watchman Nee
In 1920, Nee Shu-Tsu would hear Dora Yu preach. Later known as Watchman Nee, he “planted at least four hundred Christian churches over a thirty-year period of active ministry.” He died in 1972 in a Communist prison after spending 20 years there. Watchman Nee wrote that “Because of our proneness to look at the bucket and forget the fountain, God has frequently to change His means of supply to keep our eyes fixed on the source.”
Whether it is a European missionary, a child preacher in New York City, a Chinese man temporarily studying in New York City, or a Chinese woman walking miles through the countryside:
“How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” – Isaiah 52:7
As Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 – “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This rock is the gospel of the kingdom of God, and not even a brutal regime like that of Chairman Mao could prevail against it.
Soli Deo Gloria
[1] Noll, Mark A.; Nystrom, Carolyn. Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia (2011). This post is drawn from chapters 12 and 14.
The Fog God Hath Wrought – History for August 30
On March 5th, 1776, a sudden change in the weather led to a decisive victory for the American Revolutionary Army and an end to the British occupation of Boston (see my post on that date here). On this date, August 30, in 1776, weather intervened again. The American Revolution could have ended in bitter loss, but for “a peculiar providential occurrence” – Pea-soup fog. “So very dense was the atmosphere,” remembered Benjamin Tallmadge, “that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards’ distance.” For the book “What Ifs? Of American History”, historian David McCullough wrote a chapter describing the significance of these events.[1]
After a humiliating loss in Brooklyn (including more than 1,000 surrendered troops), George Washington found himself and his 9,000-man army cornered at the end of a peninsula by a British force numbering over 30,000, plus a vast navy. Left with few options and overwhelming odds, George Washington quickly ordered the army to evacuate Brooklyn overnight by anything they could find or make that would float, across the East River to Manhattan. The escape depended entirely on the element of surprise and the cover of darkness. The scale and boldness of the escape was enormous – one Connecticut man recalled crossing the river 11 times that night, ferrying troops and equipment across. The evacuation continued well into the morning, when the British might easily have seen what was happening, close in, and utterly destroy Washington’s army.
However, the escape remained concealed under a different kind of darkness, because “a heavy fog settled in over the whole of Brooklyn, concealing everything no less than had the night”[2] By the time the fog cleared, the escape was complete, and the British, expecting a victorious day, were instead astonished by another overnight, weather-assisted, disappearing act by the American army.
McCullough says that without the fog: “Washington and half the Continental Army would have been in the bag, captured, and the American Revolution all but finished. Without Washington there almost certainly would have been no revolution.” Because of the fog, “the entire force, at least nine thousand troops, possibly more, plus baggage, provisions, horses, field guns, everything but five heavy cannon that were too deep in the mud to budge, had been transported over the river in a single night with a makeshift emergency armada assembled in a matter of hours. Not a life was lost.”
This was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, that weather – or Providence – would play a key role in the American struggle to break away from British rule. Therefore, let every people and nation seek the LORD this day, who can wield nature itself in favor of – or against – the very nations.
“Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O LORD our God?
We set our hope on you,
for you do all these things.” – Jeremiah 14:22
[1] From “What the Fog Wrought.” David McCullough and Robert Cowley. What Ifs? Of American History (2003). P. 52-54.
[2] McCullough, David. 1776 (2005). P. 191.
God Offers More Than Bread and Circuses
Fans of the dystopian Hunger Games novels and movies know that the story takes place in a country called Panem. There, the extravagantly wealthy Capitol district holds an annual, televised battle royale, The Hunger Games, where children from each of the 12 desperately poor districts fight to the death until there is only one remaining. The purpose of these demented Games is to remind the people of the power of the Capitol, but also to provide entertainment. But why is the country called Panem?
Panem is likely a reference to the Latin phrase “panem et circenses,” or “bread and circuses,” which “means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction, or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace, by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses).”[1] Under this way of thinking, for a government to remain in power it needs to provide the basic needs of its people. For an especially cynical government, it would mean they need only provide just enough bread and just enough circuses to keep the population from overthrowing them.
In the case of The Hunger Games, the Capitol reminded the other districts that they could have no bread (panem) without the Capitol’s “benevolence,” and that the only entertainment (circuses) they get is to watch their children kill each other. Talk about a government providing the very bare minimum!
The Hunger Games is obviously an extreme example, but fortunately, Christianity offers a better answer than just the bare minimum of “panem et circenses.” What benefits does it offer? Psalm 103 in the Bible begins in the first 2 verses with a call to:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits”
And what are these benefits? Is it just more “bread and circuses”? It is, as verses 3-5 tell us that the Lord is the one:
“who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
This Psalm says He can take care of both our spiritual and physical maladies. Jesus performed many miracles, so we “may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”[2] solving our spiritual alienation from God and each other. Likewise, the body’s diseases do not heal magically or by chance; they heal because God created us with that ability. He is the Great Physician.[3]
Also, He is the One who can save us “from the pit” – from ourselves and the punishment that our sin deserves, replacing our banishment from God’s presence with “love and mercy.” He is the One who has the perspective needed to define what is good, and as our Maker, knows what we need to thrive and be renewed. He offers many benefits we cannot find anywhere else.
Not just the fictional Panem, but all the nations of the real world, have nothing to offer but varying degrees of bread and circuses, various diversions and distractions and palliatives. No government in the world can provide the benefits God provides – those listed in Psalm 103 – and therefore only God offers what can truly satisfy. Therefore,
“Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits”
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses
[2] Matthew 9:6, Mark 2:20, Luke 5:24
[3] Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31
“Consider Well Her Ramparts”: Participating in the Psalms
Reading the Psalms is a great devotional habit, and every now and then a Psalm or a section of a Psalm gives instructions to its reader. The author is inviting us to participate in something about God that they have experienced by taking specific actions. Earlier posts on participating in the Psalms (here, here, and here) have covered Psalms 96 and 100, which asked us to sing a new song and to give thanks, respectively. Today’s post is about Psalm 48, which is a little harder to see how to participate. Most of the Psalm praises God by talking about His city, Jerusalem, and His mountain, Mount Zion. If our God’s dwelling place is worthy of praise, then He must be as well. The “participating” part comes at the end, with verses 12-14:
“Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.”
The Psalmist wrote in ancient times that it was worth it to take the time to walk around Zion, to consider the things of God and not just gloss over them quickly, but how do we do that when Christians do not consider Jerusalem and Mount Zion to be the dwelling place of God? How do we “consider well her ramparts”?
Currently, what was represented by the temple in Jerusalem on Mount Zion is represented by His body of believers, indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Peter wrote that members of the church, “like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”[1] Therefore, do we participate in this Psalm by considering God’s strength through the church throughout history? When we consider the “towers”, “ramparts”, and “citadels” of the church, do we consider the great “cloud of witnesses” listed in Hebrews 12, in addition to the faithful members of the church through the centuries since then?
Do we consider well not only the strength God has given His church through history, but also the strength that He protects it with even now? Do we consider our own “ramparts” – the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6:13-17 –
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Consideration takes time, so to participate in this Psalm take some time, if not today then soon, to consider God’s strength as shown through a person in the Bible, in church history, or even your own community or family. Praise God for His strength and protection over His faithful!
As the “Sons of Korah” who wrote Psalm 48 believed, it’s worth the time and effort to:
“Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.”
Many of this blog’s posts on History (click here) are a decent starting point.
[1] 1 Peter 2:5
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 