Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power

James Lilley, former US ambassador to China and former US representative to Taiwan
David Aikman writes with conviction about the broad scope and deep roots of Christianity in China. It is a compelling

Book Description
This book details the great unreported story of the Chinese giant and its enormously rapid conversion to Christianity and what this change means to the global balance of power.

From the Inside Flap
Is China America's Next Great Ally? An unreported tectonic shift is happening in global politics--and it's driven by religion. Within the next thirty years, one-third of China's population could be Christian, making China one of the largest Christian nations in the world. These Christians could also be China's leaders, guiding the largest economy in the world. What is happening in China is what happened to the Roman Empire nearly two millennia ago--a great power transforming itself. The results could be astonishing. Veteran reporter David Aikman, former Beijing bureau chief for Time magazine, takes you inside this revolution to reveal some shocking facts. In Jesus in Beijing, you'll learn: *Why China might be America's next ally against radical Islam *Why the Chinese believe that Christianity is crucial to the rise of the West--and of China *Why fierce anti-Christian persecution and covert government encouragement exist side by side in China *Why Chinese Christians see themselves as allies of the United States--and of Israel *How the Christian underground has spread--and won over key members of the Chinese Communist Party *The impact of a Christianizing China on global Christendom at large In Jesus in Beijing, David Aikman recounts the fascinating story of how Christianity began in China (even predating Francis Xavier and the Jesuits), and the bloody anti-Christian persecutions (especially under the Communists), the revival of an underground Christian movement led by brave men and women risking death, and the flowering of Christianity today--though still under persecution. While China's Communist rulers hope to reap the social and economic benefits of Christianity without losing power, as David Aikman so provocatively points out, the Chinese dragon might just be tamed by the Christian Lamb. Few books change the way a reader views the world. Jesus in Beijing is one of those books.

About the Author
David Aikman, former Time magazine Beijing bureau chief, is an author, journalist, and foreign policy consultant. After more than two decades with Time magazine--reporting from more than fifty countries, and interviewing such figures as Boris Yeltsin, Billy Graham, Manuel Noriega, and Mother Teresa--he became a freelance writer and commentator. He has written for Foreign Affairs, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, as well as several books on subjects ranging from Mikhail Gorbachev to the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. He lives in Virginia with his family.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

Aikman, former Beijing bureau chief for Time, starts his impressive analysis of the state of Christianity in China with a solid review of its early history, from the Nestorians and Jesuits to the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions. Most of this book, however, is devoted to the current scene, which consists of Communist Partysponsored Protestant and Catholic churches and thousands of "home churches" that are technically illegal but often have large, conspicuous buildings. Indeed, the authorities are more than a little ambivalent about how to treat Christianity: the party faithful continue to regard all religion as a threat, whereas researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences assert that it was Christianity that made the West strong. Aikman builds his analysis around a diverse array of individual Christians, from entrepreneurs and entertainers to foreign service officers and party officials. He estimates that "Christian believers in China, both Catholic and Protestant, may be closer to 80 million than the official combined Catholic-Protestant figure of 21 million" and that "it is possible that Christians will constitute 20 to 30 percent of China's population within three decades." Like the many observers who get carried away speculating about China's economic growth, Aikman proclaims that this spread of Christianity will ultimately change the global balance of power. But one does not have to agree with such a prediction to find much of interest in this book.


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices