我国改革开放以来基督教发展的原因探析

我国改革开放以来基督教得到迅猛发展,其原因主要有两个方面:从纵向看,共和国成立后的30年间,基督教经历了革新、联合、沉寂的曲折演进历程,这是它在改革开放以后得以复兴的内部因素;从横向看,改革开放后社会处于转型期,价值观念变迁、贫富差距拉大、腐败现象滋生泛滥等社会问题和基督教自身的特点对其发展亦产生了重要影响,这是促其发展的外部因素。总之,社会变革是基督教快速发展的根源,其自身的不断调适决定了它对社会正常运转发挥着积极的功能。与此同时,基督教发展的新形势、出现的新问题,也给党和政府处理宗教事务、加强自身建设提出了新的要求。

An Investigation of the Causes for the Expansion of Christianity since the Initiation of Reform and Opening-up in China

Since it embarked on reform and opening-up, China has witnessed an impetuous expansion of the Christian faith. This is due to two major reasons. Viewed vertically, for thirty years after the founding of the People's Republic, Christianity had undergone a tortuous process of evolution through innovation, union and fading, internal factors enabling the religion to resurge once reform and opening-up began. Viewed horizontally, with the beginning of reform and opening-up, the Chinese society has been undergoing a typological change, giving rise to social problems such as values alterations, greater gap between the rich and the poor and rampant corruption, external factors which, combined with the characteristics of Christianity itself, have contributed largely to the expansion of the Christian faith. In short, social changes are the root cause of the rapid expansion of Christianity, whose unceasing self-adjustment, for its part, determines its positive role in ensuring normal functioning of society. At the same time, the new fact of Christianity's expansion and the new questions it presents makes new demands for the Party and government to better handle religious affairs and enhance their own construction.