Courtesy photo.
In China, a new law went into effect Tuesday, making online gatherings illegal for churches that are not under government control. The new law also makes it illegal to share Christian content on social media within the country.
International Christian Concern (ICC), an international organization whose concern is the human rights of Christians and religious minorities, confirmed this development yesterday, revealing that the new law cuts off many underground churches from a crucial resource in their ability to preach the gospel.
“While the west grows more accustomed to the convenience of having our churches online, China’s Christians continue to endure the encroachment of the Chinese state. Under this new scrutiny Chinese Christians must now find new ways to navigate the cascading barriers in their pursuit of their faith,” ICC wrote in a statement.
The new law stipulates that to be able to stream a church service, post or share sermons online, one requires an ‘Internet Religious Information Service Permit.’
Additionally, no organization or individual can fundraise ‘in the name of religion’ online, according to the measures.
Christian within this nation told persecution watchdog, Open Doors, that they have already pulled down all Bible-related posts on their social media in anticipation of the new law coming into force.
At the end of last year, ICC says that the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) announced an upcoming ban on the use of unauthorized online services for religious activity.
ICC reports that the activities of in-person worship have already been subjected to monitoring by CCTV cameras.
It should be noted that the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement, are exempt from the new regulations, since they are fully state-controlled denominations.
CBN News reported earlier that the Chinese Communist Party embarked on a mission to rewrite the Bible through a communist lens. This quest has reportedly resulted in shocking distortions of Scripture and Gospel truth.
Todd Nettleton, the spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), another US-based persecution watchdog serving Christians across the globe, told the news source about the Chinese government’s ongoing efforts to rewrite the Bible.
“This is a project that the Chinese Communist Party announced in 2019. At the time, they said it would be about a 10-year process … to release a new translation of the Bible,” he was quoted as saying, adding it would include Confucian and Buddhist principles, among others,” he said.
