China – a nation where the church is rapidly expanding

Yesterday, the BBC reported on the remarkable growth of the church in China.  It is of course slightly bemused by the whole thing.

Many of China’s churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert – is the cause now rampant capitalism?

It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding.

The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and six million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe . . .