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Article: Author foresees China becoming Christianized; Church's numbers outpacing population rise.(RELIGION)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- December 27, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jeremy Reynalds, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Will China become Christian? Veteran reporter David Aikman thinks so.
China's current population is about 1.3 billion, which he says includes about 70 million Protestants and about 12 million Catholics. In 1949, when China had a population of about 500 million, 4 million were Christians.
"That is a 20-fold increase in Christians, but the population increased only 1.5 times," he said.
"It is plausible that in 30 years, 20 [percent] or 30 percent of the population will become believers. That is a magic tipping point because it means that important positions within the government ...