China Bans Online Sales of the Bible
China Just Banned Online Sales of the Bible
Sidney Fussell Yesterday 6:15pm
Photo: Getty-- The Chinese government has banned all online sales of the Christian Bible, the New York Times reported Thursday.
China’s biggest online retailers have reportedly already ended all Bible sales. Bibles sales are still permitted at Church bookstores in China, and some analyses or commentaries of the Bible are still sold on major retail sites like Taobao and Amazon.
While China’s online censorship is well documented, leading critics to coin the phrase “The Great Firewall of China,” the Times links the crackdown to longstanding state tension between the government and the Vatican, which has historically opposed Communism.
The Bible is the only holy text explicitly banned from being sold online, while other religious texts are still available. The Times report ties the recent move to President Xi Jinping’s “efforts to promote traditional values” and regulate the influence of both Christianity and the West. Presidential term limits were abolished in China, paving the way for Xi to rule indefinitely...
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Is this fake news or what? If not, should the Christian communities around the world be concerned? Would other countries like China follow? What other times in history the Bibles were banned, burned or people denied the privilege to read it? Is this most recent move a pretext to ban other Christian materials, religions or churches? Given the origin, nature, and power of the Bible, to change lives; what implications this move will have upon Christian Mission or send groups? CM
Comments
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I don't think it is fake news. It's being reported by many reputable news sources too.
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Bible Banning, Deja Vou?
In reflection upon the pages of history, Bible banning or efforts to destroy it is not new. When one is deprived of the Holy Book, he lacks the knowledge of salvation and is vulnerable to religious charlatans and deceptions.
Napoleon Bonaparte and General Berthier were the Directories, in charge of the French Revolution with some atheist tendencies. By law, they abolished religion and banned the Bible. As George Croly (1780-1860), a learned Irish divine-cum-historian put it in 1827:
- “The Church and the Bible had been slain in France from November 1793, till June 1797. The three years and a half were expended, and the Bible, so long and so sternly repressed before, was placed in honor, and was openly the book of free Protestantism!”
Johann Tetzel OP (1465 – 11 August 1519) was a German Dominican friar and preacher was the officially appointed to sell "indulgences" in Germany by The Roman Church for raising funds to build St. Peter’s at Rome. He used marvelous tales in the sales of "indulgences" to deceive an ignorant and superstitious people because the Bible was kept from them.
- "Considering the multitudes of copyists, the thousands of years of copying, the numerous languages into which the Bible was copied, the wide geographical area, and the numerous attempts to destroy the Bible, it is amazing that we have such a reliable, accurate text. God has clearly worked to preserve it for our use."
Am I being an alarmist? "THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN." Besides living the Word, we must teach and preach it to as many as we can, as fast as we can (Matt 28:19, 20). There were others throughout history who sort to destroy the Bible. Our past is a guide to the future. stay tuned for more, if you like... CM
SOURCES:
-- George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, or Prophecy of the Rise, Progress,
and Fall of the Church of Rome; The Inquisition; The Revolution of France; The Universal War; and The Final Triumph of Christianity (London: C. & J. Rivington, 1827), p. 181.
-- See John C. L. Giesler, A Compendium of Ecclesiastical History, period 4, section 1, paragraph 5. -
@C_M_ said:
Bible Banning, Deja Vou?In reflection upon the pages of history, Bible banning or efforts to destroy it is not new. When one is deprived of the Holy Book, he lacks the knowledge of salvation and is vulnerable to religious charlatans and deceptions.
Napoleon Bonaparte and General Berthier were the Directories, in charge of the French Revolution with some atheist tendencies. By law, they abolished religion and banned the Bible. As George Croly (1780-1860), a learned Irish divine-cum-historian put it in 1827:
- “The Church and the Bible had been slain in France from November 1793, till June 1797. The three years and a half were expended, and the Bible, so long and so sternly repressed before, was placed in honor, and was openly the book of free Protestantism!”
Johann Tetzel OP (1465 – 11 August 1519) was a German Dominican friar and preacher was the officially appointed to sell "indulgences" in Germany by The Roman Church for raising funds to build St. Peter’s at Rome. He used marvelous tales in the sales of "indulgences" to deceive an ignorant and superstitious people because the Bible was kept from them.
- "Considering the multitudes of copyists, the thousands of years of copying, the numerous languages into which the Bible was copied, the wide geographical area, and the numerous attempts to destroy the Bible, it is amazing that we have such a reliable, accurate text. God has clearly worked to preserve it for our use."
Am I being an alarmist? "THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN." Besides living the Word, we must teach and preach it to as many as we can, as fast as we can (Matt 28:19, 20). There were others throughout history who sort to destroy the Bible. Our past is a guide to the future. stay tuned for more, if you like... CM
SOURCES:
-- George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, or Prophecy of the Rise, Progress,
and Fall of the Church of Rome; The Inquisition; The Revolution of France; The Universal War; and The Final Triumph of Christianity (London: C. & J. Rivington, 1827), p. 181.
-- See John C. L. Giesler, A Compendium of Ecclesiastical History, period 4, section 1, paragraph 5.Many think some of the new translations are an attempt to replace God's word with fluff. I can see this in some of them. But think it is good to compare several translations when making a call.
