A spiritual revival changes China - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

Hundreds of millions Chinese turn to religion, as part of a spiritual revival, tells author Ian Johnson of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao to CBN. "While the government remains deeply suspicious of China's religious revival, Johnson says it hasn't stopped people from exploring matters of faith."

CBN:

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Johnson believes what's transpiring in China is nothing short of "one of the world's great spiritual revivals" and says the world better take note because the impact of this "spiritual transformation" could have significant global implications. 

"People {in China} are looking for new moral guideposts, some sort of moral compass to organize society," said Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion after Mao. "So they are turning to religion as a source of values to help reorganize society." 

Johnson spent six years researching the "values and faiths of today's China." He says the fastest-growing drivers of this "religious revolution" are unregistered churches or so-called "house" or "underground" churches. 

"These groups have become surprisingly well-organized, meeting very openly and often counting hundreds of congregants," Johnson wrote in an article for The Atlantic. "They've helped the number of Protestants soar from about one million when the communists took power to at least 60 million today."... 

While the government remains deeply suspicious of China's religious revival, Johnson says it hasn't stopped people from exploring matters of faith. 

"Hundreds of millions of Chinese are consumed with doubt about their society and turning to religion and faith for answers that they do not find in the radically secular world constructed around them," Johnson writes in his book.

More at CBN.

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