I met "J" at the canteen today. We walked back to his home, where we talked about Scripture and the church in China. "J" believes in God's Word as spirit that impacts people and souls when it's "breathed" out of the mouth. He's written a manuscript, collaborating with 4 other people, on the book of Revelation. I saw it as essentially a verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation using other Bible verses to explain what each verse means. I directed our conversation in a different way, sharing my views on constructing theology via scattered pieces of Scripture. I asked him how he'd respond to others who pieced verses together differently from him to raise up alternate theologies (e.g. the Church of Christ, Maranatha, etc.). I also talked about languages of Scripture and about Muslims' claims about the authenticity of the Bible and the Quran, things that have challenged me over the years. It became apparent that what we emphasized in our faith walks were a bit different, but I enjoyed sharing with him overall. I was very interested in the church in China and how difficult it was to be a Christian, citing perceptions (misperceptions) on the part of Westerners about this issue. "J" said in response to some questions I had:
He hadn't known personally of any extreme persecutions of Christians and believes much of it is exaggerated.
Having lived 3 years in Australia, he feels that China's restrictions in sharing the Gospel aren't a whole lot different in restrictions found in the USA or Australia. For example, open-air preaching in the West is regulated by social expectations, political correctness, and noise ordinances.
The incident I saw of a plenary session at a Christian conference showing a handwritten Bible carefully being handled with surgical gloves may have been the writings of someone who was simply studying the Bible by writing out verses, not necessarily for copying due to scarce Bibles (as it was being depicted at the conference).
Every Christian in China who wants a Bible could buy one if they wanted.
Obviously, the Bible in China is quite complete.
Having commentary and study guides inside Bibles strikes John as a bit odd, almost against the doctrine that speaks against adding things to God's Word. He prefers the Bible to be unencumbered by wordy footnotes and commentary.
L. and I went to Beijing Lu for pizza at Pizza Hut. We walked back in the heat, past the busy stores, crowds, wristwatch hawkers, and displays in the ground of the old GZ roads of centuries past. We waited a while for a bus, took 108 to Huang Shi Lu and then a taxi back home.
The U.S. National Cheerleading and Dance Team Championships were on GZ Sports. It was taken from ESPN. If I could only get a copy of it, it'd be nice to show to the YLT middle school kids as an example of American culture.
