This is amazing news. According to internet activity it would seem that Christianity is a lot more popular than Communism in China right now.
There is something beautiful going on in one of the most oppressive countries on the globe. That’s the odd thing about Christianity -the more you try to stamp it out the more desirous it becomes. I seem to remember the apostles weren’t treated very well in their travels. But they did pretty well.
Foreign Policy released a fascinating infographic today, based on a compilation of information from Weibo, China’s huge social media platform that functions like Twitter. The graphic suggests that Christian terms are far more popular than their Communist counterparts. The information showed vastly more mentions of God than Chairman Mao, and more of Jesus than President Xi Jinping, who is headlined in state newspapers nearly every day. The regulated Bible, with 17 million hits, shot past the famous and widely-distributed Little Red Book, also known as Quotations from Chairman Mao, which registered so few hits that the data couldn’t be displayed. “Christian congregation” garnered 41.8 million hits, while “the Communist Party” registered just 5.3 million…
With the astronomical growth of Christianity in China—the current estimate has the Christian church topping 60 million—it seems more than possible that people are just more interested in Christ than communism.
Keep the Christians there in your prayers because prayers are a lot more powerful than internet searches.
April 10, 2014 at 11:45 am
Great story but what does 'trending' mean? Is there an English translation?
April 10, 2014 at 6:56 pm
My wife recently returned from a month with her family in NW China. She attended Mass at the Cathedral in Urumqi, which she says was well attended. It was also a far more traditional Mass than the NO we experience in GA.
April 11, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Everything is more popular than communism. Much the same way a kind smile is more popular than being spat on.
April 11, 2014 at 8:06 pm
In gratitude to the Holy Spirit for prayers answered. God bless them.
April 13, 2014 at 12:50 am
I'd say a better estimate of the true Christian population in China is one hundred million or more. I understand the sixty million number is "official", but I'm positive the Communists are under counting Christians. Not long ago they were saying there were ten to fifteen million, then thirty and now it's sixty. I guess we could have topped out on their lies, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more.
They're on track to have more Christians than the United States in the coming decades. (And we don't defend our churches from being torn down, we stand by and watch them get replaced by secularist garbage.)
April 13, 2014 at 12:51 am
Go to the proper Mass, you'll LOVE it!