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The Christian Manifesto
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The Christian Manifesto
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly founded People's Republic of China (PRC) and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Published in 1950, the manifesto paved the way for the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) of Protestants. This movement proclaimed the three principles of self-government, self-support, and self-propagation. The drafting and content of the manifesto was, and remains, controversial to this day.
The manifesto was devised after Protestant leaders presented their concerns with religious freedom to Zhou Enlai, the Premier of China. Instead of receiving their report, Zhou demanded them to come up with a statement in support of the new communist leadership. Y. T. Wu and other leftist clergymen espoused the task and presented a draft manifesto that, after some opposition and changes, became a foundational text of Christianity in the new People's Republic. It condemns missionary activities in China as a form of imperialism, pledges loyalty to the communist leadership, and encourages the Church to take up an indigenous Chinese stance toward Christianity.
Published on the front page of the People's Daily, the manifesto was accompanied by a campaign to gather signatures. Many Christian leaders and laymen signed, while others refused to do so. After the Korean War broke out, the campaign became an increasingly politicized test of loyalty that became merged with the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries.
Some view the manifesto as a betrayal of the Church, while others find sympathy for the position of Chinese Christians struggling to reconcile their faith with the changed political situations. The manifesto ended missionary activities in China and the separation of Church and state. It led to the founding the TSPM and brought persecution to dissidents.
After the declaration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, religious life in mainland China was forced to adapt itself in relation to the new rulers. Of all religions in China, Christianity was particularly susceptible to such pressure, because its inherently foreign character made the government think of it as a political threat. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was compelled to draw up a plan to persecute Christians whose religion it viewed as an ideological competitor of Marxism, or at least, to make the Christian population politically accountable. At the same time, the Common Program adopted by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949, the de facto interim constitution of the PRC, guaranteed freedom of religion. Chinese Protestants dispatched envoys all over China to see how this provision was being met in practice. Upon their return, they planned to write a report about the situation and present it to the Chinese government.
The Chinese Church faced four problems in the changed reality: it was dependent on foreign funding, its confession was fundamentally at odds with the communist ideology, it was wary of how local CCP cadres would implement religious policy of the new government, and finally, the Church was uneasy with China's foreign policy of friendly ties with the Soviet Union. In order to exert control, the government supported those Christian groups that were willing to accommodate. One such group were Chinese Protestants who were based in Shanghai, headed by Y. T. Wu, the secretary of YMCA in China. Wu had envisioned transforming the Chinese Church even before 1949: he developed ideas ranging from advocating the Social Gospel to Christian socialism and communism. The government's political goals thus coincided with his. The core ideas of "The Christian Manifesto" had already been presented by Wu in a 1948 article "The Present-Day Tragedy of Christianity". Similarly, in December 1949 Wu's associates published an open letter "Message from Chinese Christians to Mission Boards Abroad" that declared foreign missionary activities unwelcome in China and called for their legacy to be critically reassessed.
Wu and his associates would implement the government's desires by publishing a document outlining Chinese Christianity in the new era.
By late summer of 1950, "The Christian Manifesto" had become part of a campaign to establish the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) to replace its more outward-oriented predecessor, the National Christian Council of China (NCC). The TSPM would not be a church, but a government-sponsored parachurch organization directly controlled by the Religious Affairs Division (RAD, later the State Administration for Religious Affairs), which in turn was under the United Front Work Department of the CCP. The role of the TSPM was, and still is, to ensure that Protestant churches approved by officials operate according to the government's religious policy.
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The Christian Manifesto
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly founded People's Republic of China (PRC) and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Published in 1950, the manifesto paved the way for the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) of Protestants. This movement proclaimed the three principles of self-government, self-support, and self-propagation. The drafting and content of the manifesto was, and remains, controversial to this day.
The manifesto was devised after Protestant leaders presented their concerns with religious freedom to Zhou Enlai, the Premier of China. Instead of receiving their report, Zhou demanded them to come up with a statement in support of the new communist leadership. Y. T. Wu and other leftist clergymen espoused the task and presented a draft manifesto that, after some opposition and changes, became a foundational text of Christianity in the new People's Republic. It condemns missionary activities in China as a form of imperialism, pledges loyalty to the communist leadership, and encourages the Church to take up an indigenous Chinese stance toward Christianity.
Published on the front page of the People's Daily, the manifesto was accompanied by a campaign to gather signatures. Many Christian leaders and laymen signed, while others refused to do so. After the Korean War broke out, the campaign became an increasingly politicized test of loyalty that became merged with the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries.
Some view the manifesto as a betrayal of the Church, while others find sympathy for the position of Chinese Christians struggling to reconcile their faith with the changed political situations. The manifesto ended missionary activities in China and the separation of Church and state. It led to the founding the TSPM and brought persecution to dissidents.
After the declaration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, religious life in mainland China was forced to adapt itself in relation to the new rulers. Of all religions in China, Christianity was particularly susceptible to such pressure, because its inherently foreign character made the government think of it as a political threat. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was compelled to draw up a plan to persecute Christians whose religion it viewed as an ideological competitor of Marxism, or at least, to make the Christian population politically accountable. At the same time, the Common Program adopted by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949, the de facto interim constitution of the PRC, guaranteed freedom of religion. Chinese Protestants dispatched envoys all over China to see how this provision was being met in practice. Upon their return, they planned to write a report about the situation and present it to the Chinese government.
The Chinese Church faced four problems in the changed reality: it was dependent on foreign funding, its confession was fundamentally at odds with the communist ideology, it was wary of how local CCP cadres would implement religious policy of the new government, and finally, the Church was uneasy with China's foreign policy of friendly ties with the Soviet Union. In order to exert control, the government supported those Christian groups that were willing to accommodate. One such group were Chinese Protestants who were based in Shanghai, headed by Y. T. Wu, the secretary of YMCA in China. Wu had envisioned transforming the Chinese Church even before 1949: he developed ideas ranging from advocating the Social Gospel to Christian socialism and communism. The government's political goals thus coincided with his. The core ideas of "The Christian Manifesto" had already been presented by Wu in a 1948 article "The Present-Day Tragedy of Christianity". Similarly, in December 1949 Wu's associates published an open letter "Message from Chinese Christians to Mission Boards Abroad" that declared foreign missionary activities unwelcome in China and called for their legacy to be critically reassessed.
Wu and his associates would implement the government's desires by publishing a document outlining Chinese Christianity in the new era.
By late summer of 1950, "The Christian Manifesto" had become part of a campaign to establish the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) to replace its more outward-oriented predecessor, the National Christian Council of China (NCC). The TSPM would not be a church, but a government-sponsored parachurch organization directly controlled by the Religious Affairs Division (RAD, later the State Administration for Religious Affairs), which in turn was under the United Front Work Department of the CCP. The role of the TSPM was, and still is, to ensure that Protestant churches approved by officials operate according to the government's religious policy.