A Star in the East:The Rise of Christianity in China (Book Review Sample)

Name:
Lecturer name:
Course Name:
Institution:
Date:
Summary
Chapter 1
The first chapter discusses how religion was almost being extinct during the age of the Cultural Revolution. The book then explains that traditional religion such as Buddhism and popular religion have made a comeback over the last few decades. Within this chapter, the authors also note that the rapid rise of Christianity in China is something that is both new and exciting. It is a religious awakening. The writers back their claim about the rise of Christianity in China using two major surveys. The surveys comprise of strict adherence to statistical analysis and the values of sociological research.
The book discusses that it is difficult to estimate the actual number of people who have an affiliation to religion in China because people are still afraid of publicly admitting that they are Christians to the researchers because of the government’s antireligious stand. Additionally, many Chinese people believe that belonging to a religion means that one partakes in social activities belonging to that religion such as praying in temples. For this reason, a Chinese Individual may believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but fail to acknowledge that they are a Christian simply because they do not go to the temple or carry on various other practices related to their religion. However, in the recent past more Chinese people have been willing to identify themselves as being religious. The researchers estimated that the number of Christian Chinese individuals stood at a whooping 60 million in the year 2007. This number is likely to have grown three fold over the years from 2007 up to date (Stark & Wang 135).
Other than Christianity, hundreds of millions of Chinese people are practicing folk religion. This is the most basic form of religion in China and it involves a belief in the ancestral spirits. It is therefore safe to say that folk religion has increased greatly over the past few decades. On the other hand, there has been a revival in the practice of Buddhism. The number of people who are willing to admit that they are Buddhists has increased significantly over the years (Stark & Wang 150).
This is especially because the government has legalized the religion of Buddhism even though it is a foreign religion. Of all the religious individuals in China, only 2% of them are Muslims. This is the population that lives along the border regions that include Mongolia and Tibet. Majority of people within this group believe that they have faced significant discrimination from the government and the Han Chinese. Frequent attacks against this group have further intensified tensions between them and other religions further (Stark & Wang 161).
Chapter 2
The second chapter focuses on Christian missions undertaken in china between the years 1860 and 1950. It recounts the story of how Western missions set up camp in China following the legalization of foreign residence in China, especially to the missionaries. The authors then delve into various subtopics such as the early mission efforts and its result, the role of women in Christian missionary, the effect of the Taiping rebellion on the missionary activities, the impact of the Second World War on Christians and missionary activities, the boxer massacres and the issue of Christianity and Chinese nationalism. From this chapter we also learn that American and British missionaries faced a lot of challenges in the 1890s. For example, they were faced with high mortality rates and illnesses especially around the year 1891. On the other hand, this chapter also notes that there was a large number of Christians in rural China as compared to the urban areas by the year 1918. This is in direct contrast to what is happening today. There are nowadays more Chinese Christians within the urban areas as compared to the rural areas (Stark & Wang 513).
Chapter 3
The third chapter focuses on the repression of the Christians and their following resistance. After the communists came to power, they sought to impose control on religious groups most especially the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. The Catholics faced more pressure and persecution due to their allegiance to the pope. On the other hand, the government tolerated the Protestants for a few years. However, following the Cultural Revolution, al the religious activities in the country were outlawed. This was quite beneficial in the sense that a majority of the missionaries left china for their home countries or other more hospitable nations. This meant that the leadership of Christian missions was left in the hand of the indigenous people (Stark & Wang 617). The chapter continues to explain how protestant Christianity thrived even in the face of persecution and repression. With indigenous people taking over missionary activities, the number of Christians started to increase because naturally, people are likely to convert to a religious group in which they have social ties. Due to the nature of their social ties, it also became possible for the Protestants to arrange for underground meetings without being caught (Stark & Wang 714).
On the other hand, Roman Catholic bishops and clergy were heavily persecuted, tortured and murdered and this caused a decline in the number of missionaries responsible for bringing more believers to the fold thus being overtaken by the Protestants in facilitating conversion of people into Christianity (Stark & Wang 848). However, after the opening and reforms in the year 1978, Protestants and Roman Catholics were allowed to operate with little interference leading to an increase in the number of people who converted to Christianity (Stark & Wang 1020).
Chapter 4
This chapter focuses on the conversion of the educated individuals in the Chinese society. The authors note that the educated Chinese individuals are more likely to convert to Christianity as opposed to their less learned counterparts. The authors attribute this to the phenomenon that new religious movements are almost always based on the elite within any given society. Cultural congruity in the country has bred a conflict between cultural religious beliefs and modernity. The authors note that this is causing many educated people to turn away from Buddhism to Christianity (Stark & Wang 1058).
Chapter 5
This chapter dwells on Christianization of the Chinese both in the rural areas and in the urban areas. The authors note that there is a very small difference between the growth of Christianity in rural china and urban china because Christianity is growing rapidly at a fast pace in China. Even though Christianity is spreading like wild bushfire in the Chinese rural areas, it has nothing to do with income. In the past, it has been assumed that the poor are the ones more likely to convert to Christianity in their search for hope. However, this book indicates that the affluent people living in rural areas are the ones who are more likely to convert to Christianity. The myth about Christianity and wealth is therefore debunked. Within this chapter, the book also notes that there are more Christian women than men in China. It however also notes that this has nothing to do with powerlessness. This chapter also focuses on the power of social networks in the spread of Christianity. The authors note that most people in China become affiliated to a certain church because of the influence of someone they know. The authors note that social ties are stronger in rural china as compared to urban China and this may explain why Christianity may spread a tad bit faster in the rural areas as compared to the urban ones (Stark & Wang 1355).
Chapter 6
This chapter focuses on the future prospects and results of Christianity. Three major questions are discussed within this chapter. The first question is the issue of how large the Chinese Christian community will become. At the writing of the book in the year 2007, the authors prospected that the number of Christians would have grown to 149.7 million in China. They also estimated that by the year 2030, there would be 294.6 million Christian Chinese. They projected that this number is likely to rise to 579 million by the year 2040. The second question under consideration in this chapter is whether the Chinese Christians will split into many different religious factions. The authors note that the Chinese Christians will most likely get divided into various denominations that adhere to different doctrines and various levels of intensity depending on individual’s commitment to each other, to faith and to the religion that they share. The third question addressed in this chapter is the effect of Christianity on the lives of the Chinese people and their way of life. The authors project that like anywhere else in the world, Christianity in China will make the converts happier and healthier. They also note that Christians are likely to enjoy higher incomes, higher education levels and lower child mortality rates. However, they are quick to quip that a rise in Christianity is unlikely to affect the free market economy as well as democracy unless of course the growing number of Christian party members decide to weigh in on the decisions made owing to their religion (Stark & Wang 1638).
Critical Review
One of the greatest strengths of this book is that it is backed...