This is a fascinating book to say the least. In His letters to the seven churches of Asia Christ gives his warnings to the churches. Among these warnings is the statement, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." (Revelation 2:5). As John states it in Rev. 1:20 the candlesticks refer to the churches. The warning is that without repentance and a return to our first love and zeal for Christ the church will be extinguished. However, if the church of Jesus Christ is extinguished in one place, it is replanted elsewhere. Ultimately the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ's church and God will always raise up a testimony to his truth. Every generation has an election according to the remnant of grace as Paul puts it.

The questions that this book inevitably raises is this...Is Christ extinguishing his church in the West? Is Christ replanting his church in other parts of the globe? For as we look around us we see a Post-Christian America and an apostate West that has not only forsaken its spiritual heritage, but actively hates Christianity. The West has cast God's word behind its back and has trampled his laws underfoot. What, by contrast, is the situation in China? Well, to say the least, it is radically different, at least according to David Aikman, the former Time magazine Bureau Chief in Beijing. Aikman writes well, displays a sound and deep knowledge of Christianity, unusual in the secular media, and has made a decades long study of Christianity in China. His observations are not only deeply interesting and utterly fascinating, but if true extremely important. And according to Aikman, Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds in China and is on a course to become not only the dominant religion in China, but also the dominant cultural force in that great nation. Is God transplanting his church as his holy judgment on an apostate West, just as he sent the gospel out from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the world when the Jews rejected his Son, Jesus the Christ?

Aikman traces the history of Christianity in China and shows how it persevered even under the fierce persecution of a militantly atheistic communism. He shows how it remained strongly evangelical even as it's legally tolerated portion was under constant pressure from the state to adopt modernism and theological liberalism. He traces the course of the underground house church movements and the many heroic martyrs for the faith that it produced in wave after wave of persecution. He skillfully dissects the theology of the Chinese church and shows the various strains of belief from Charismatic to Roman Catholic that make up the skein of Chinese Church.

Some of the more surprising facts that are disclosed is that although persecution can still be very real, in general there is much more tolerant attitude by the government towards Christianity. There is even a somewhat positive attitude towards the Christian faith in even the highest councils of the Chinese State. For example, in 2002 Jiang Zeming, then  President of China and leader of the Chinese Communist party was asked before leaving office if he could make one last decree that would be obeyed in China, what would it be, replied, "I would make Christianity the official religion of China." Such a statement is currently almost unthinkable in the West, yet is was made by the most powerful man in China at the time. Why did he make such an explosively unexpected statement? Because the communist leadership is ready to abandon Marx and Lenin (they already have years ago) and be baptized and become Christians? Not necessarily. Rather it may just be an example of a unique phenomenon that is quite pronounced in China at this time, especially among the intellectuals. That is the phenomenon of cultural Christianity. Many intellectuals who are not , at least not yet (although here many who are), Christians, have a very favorable attitude towards Christianity.  Basically, they have studied their history and have seen what various religions have produced in the nations that have adopted them. They have seen the kind of societies that Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam have produced and are not impressed. They have seen what Christianity (especially Protestant Christianity since the Reformation) has historically produced and they believe that this is an example to emulate. Similarly, among the Chinese people there is no cultural stigma anymore against Christianity as there is in the West. People are very open to Christian witness, classes in Christianity at secular Chinese universities are packed, and many people are anxious to learn about this religion. In short, from the President to the peasant, God is preparing this great nation to hear the gospel. Is God preparing to transplant the candlestick? Has God already transplanted it???

Another important aspect of the Chinese Church is that it is intensely evangelistic, and their evangelistic zeal is not limited to China itself. They are already sending out missionaries to surrounding nations and have an intense desire to convert the Islamic world. It is interesting that the West (particularly the United States and Great Britain) is currently engaged in an attempt to win the Islamic world with the sword, and by democracy, a somewhat improbable combination. As a friend on mine, Rev. Richard Bacon, recently expressed it, "If the Islamic world is going to be won it will be by the gospel, not by the sword." In fact the current war in Iraq is making Christianity an object of hatred in the entire Islamic world and casting a real stumbling block in the way of Christian missionaries from the West.  The Chinese church has realized this and feels in light of that situation that they are peculiarly situated to gain an entrance into and a hearing in the Islamic world with the gospel. They have a unique way at looking at world missions. The gospel went out from Jerusalem and, and especially through Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, went Westward creating Western Christian civilization. From the West, and particularly America the gospel kept going West and reached Asia and China. Now they want it to keep going West, through the Islamic world all the way to the Middle East and to Jerusalem, where it originated. At that point they believe the Great Commission will have been fulfilled, the entire world will have been evangelized, and the stage set for the return of Jesus Christ.

Another interesting facet of the Chinese Church is that they hold to the Old-School Presbyterian doctrine of the spirituality of the church, and refuse to get involved (as a church at least, individuals can of course act in their capacity as citizens) in politics. They are not crusading to overthrow communism, only to advance Christianity. As Christ and his Apostles did not become zealots and attempt to overthrow Rome, neither do they see it as their calling to overthrow communism. They are not even zealots for promoting democracy. They obviously prefer democracy to communism, but are skeptical as to its benefits. They have seen the spiritual decline and moral corruption of the West (many Chinese Christians are shocked when they come to the West and see our moral state.) and realize that democracy is not enough. They have seen that democracy is almost an idol, a religion in the West, and it is faith in democracy, not in Christ, that is currently being promoted as the cure for the world's ills and is being forced on the Islamic world as a solution to their problems. They believe that nations need Christ more than they need democracy and that is what they are committed to preaching and working for.

This review could go on and on. I hope that I have whetted your appetite for reading this book and for reflecting on what is happening and on what God may yet do as he sovereignly works his will in the churches.