Church and State in China
A LEAGUE has been formed in Peking for the purpose of opposing the adoption of a state religion in China. In the league are representatives of Mohammedanism, Taoism, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism. They are all determined to contest the adoption of Confucianism as the religion of the state. The constitution of the Chinese parliament has made no provision for a state religion, but a mandate from the president seems to point to Confucianism as the religion he would like to have adopted. There is a strong Confucian revival movement in China, and educational leaders express the conviction that if China is to be saved from “political ruin” and “moral anarchy,” she must restore the reverence for her country's sages. The prevailing religion in China is the worship of ancestors. Upon this subject, Yuan Shih Kai describes the sayings of Confucius as— “a doctrine of unequaled wisdom, which is recognized as such by many foreigners as well as Chinese; deep as the ocean, sufficient although the ages change, permanent as the sun and the moon that cross the heavens and as the rivers that flow on the earth.” The last century has been marked by a great revolution in favor of religious liberty. Enlightened nations like the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and other countries of the Old World, have taken the lead; and one after another of the more despotic powers has been forced by rising popular sentiment to become tolerant. It has not been a great while since it was impossible for missionaries to enter countries like China and Japan. But now practically all the world is open to the gospel and its missionary operations. When the Master was here in person, He uttered the sublime prediction that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” For long centuries, these Oriental countries resisted the great prophecy, but now the whole world is opening up to the glorious light of the gospel. Thus we see the first part of the Master's prediction fulfilled. We see the gospel going into all the world. We are only waiting now for the fulfilment of the remaining prediction, which means the second appearing of the blessed Christ.