Is it okay to change the Bible as you see fit? How about the Koran?
That’s what the Communist Chinese Party has decided to do. In China, there are two churches: The state-sponsored “Three-Self” church, which is under full governmental authority, and the underground church, which is not. As you can guess, the underground church maintains the original Bible, unaltered, and operates with little to no central authority other than the Bible itself. It is heavily persecuted by the Chinese government, which created the Three-Self church to give the appearance of religious tolerance while punishing all religious expression at every opportunity.
But the alteration of the Bible is relatively new. Here is one of the only examples to have leaked out of China, with the original first and the altered version second:
John 8:7-11
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
China’s new version:
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, and then, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, “I am also a sinner.”
This, of course, primarily affects Christians in China, but it’s entirely related to the genocide of Chinese Muslims as well.
Even though China officially recognizes 5 different world religions within its own borders, there really is only one: The government itself. This is the same outcome anywhere religion is oppressed, throughout all time and location. The state steps into the vacuum, and people put their “faith” in the higher power of a king, queen, dictator, or perpetual prime minister. Meanwhile, religious faith rapidly expands in the shadows, undermining the very power which seeks to extinguish it.
China is learning this lesson the hard way. There are over 100 million Chinese Christians in the underground church, and considering the secretive nature of the Christian faith in China, that’s a conservative estimate. Western governments, slipping ever further into top-down edicts, should take note. A hands-off approach to religious expression and religious belief is the way of freedom, and every soul who’s ever attempted to control it has learned that it’s impossible to do.
Ryan Wiggins is the author of the extremely serious and not funny robot novel, The Life of Human, and is a writer and producer of television shows. He is the host of Wiggins America on 97.1 FM Talk in St. Louis.
