Chinese authorities seize over 1000 Bibles and prayer books

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Church Leaders reports that a lot of Bibles, prayer books, songbooks, as well as digital copies of the texts were forcibly taken during a Police raid in Shandong province, located in the east of the country.

The raid was carried out in five house churches by the Police who were helped by "ethnic and religious affairs bureau" officials, according to reports from the region.

Meanwhile, authorities are saying that these raids are part of an anti-pornography crackdown. However, there are reports that only religious texts were seized, leading many to believe that this is another attempt to attack Christians.

In fact, a Christian in Jining city reportedly said that police did not target local Buddhist temples but were actively "hostile" toward Christian churches.

ALSO READ: Will persecution of Chinese Christians ever end?

Religious persecution against Christians in China

This is not the first time the government has seized, raided or even vandalized the homes of Chinese Christians.

In March, 2018, the authorities were caught tearing down crosses from churches. One of them was the Shangqiu Catholic Church South Cathedral in Henan Province.

Afterward, the local authorities banned Christians from all church activities.

It is important to add that Muslims are not left out of this persecution.

Christianity in China grows still

In spite of these attacks, the Chinese church continues to grow, according to a Time article. It said: “Yet paradoxic, the more severe the persecution, the more people are drawn to Christianity.”

Carsten Vala, chair of the political science department at Loyola University, told Time that “By clamping down on it, the Communist Party has multiplied it. Protestants have arguably created the most sustained structural challenges to the Chinese Communist Party’s ordering of society.”

The article is titled: 'Guerrillas for God: How Hong Kong’s Pastors Are Delivering the Message to China’s Christians.'