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A New History of Christianity in China

Reviewed by Simon Gates.

With a country as large as China with such a wealth of history and culture, any attempt to summarise the life and the history of the Christian faith is not for the faint hearted. 

Daniel Bays brings a wealth of experience in his summary of his lifelong studies of Christianity in China. He is currently Professor of History and the director of Asian Studies Program at Calvin College Michigan. In charting the complexities of the history of the church in China, starting with the earliest records from the seventh century, Bays is sure footed, succinctly summarising controversies. It is interesting, readable and balanced in its retelling of the story. The bibliography is vast and dynamically draws together the riches of scholarship.  

It provides a fascinating insight into different models of mission. Bays charts the history of mission in China from the Nestorians in the seventh and eight centuries to the Jesuits in the sixteenth century adopting the traditions and dress of the Imperial court. This enculturation led to conflict with the Vatican and disputes about how far converts could keep the rituals of their past. 

In the nineteenth century and early twentieth, while great resources were expended, especially after China was forced to open up to foreigners after the Opium Wars, the church grew a little yet “foreign missionaries were largely indifferent to or actually suspicious of the desire for autonomy of some Chinese Christians”.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao, “seen at the time as an unmitigated disaster for the church, was actually of great assistance to the growth of Christianity in many places in China”. Bays charts the rapid growth of the church freed from the leadership of foreigners in the last 50 years. He points to the irony of groups still seeking to smuggle Bibles in when, in the past several years, over 50 million have been printed at the Amity Press in Nanjing. He concludes that “in the kingdom of post western Christianity China may contribute something out of the treasure trove of her own rich Christian history.” 

This is an authoritative, yet brief (200 pages), history of the church in China.