TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
China enforces ban on online Bible sales
Change Size
Recently, people from around the world are turning to blind literalism for interpreting religions. We are haunted by a way of thinking fueled by religious fundamentalism and conservatism. (Shutterstock/File)
B
ibles have been pulled from Chinese online retailers in "recent days", merchants told AFP on Friday, as Communist authorities ramp up control over religious worship.
The clamp down on "illegally published books" also comes as the Vatican and Beijing negotiate a historic agreement on the appointment of bishops in China.
"Bibles and books without publication numbers have all been removed in recent days," a merchant on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao told AFP, without giving details on how authorities have enforced the ban.
However, another merchant said she can list Old Testament editions of the Bible while English editions were still available in search results on Amazon China and Dangdang.com.
Online sales of other major religious texts including the Koran and the Taoist Daodejing did not appear to be affected.
All books sold in China technically must go through an official approval process, but Bibles have been readily available in recent years.
The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) governs the distribution of China's equivalent of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which is needed for books to be legally sold in the country.
China's State Council and GAPP authorities did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for clarification.
Jin Mingri, pastor of the Protestant Zion Church in Beijing, which is not registered with the government, said the restrictions were tied to "overall tightening in the overall environment."
"Maybe (authorities) think that the spread of the Bible on informal channels is not conducive to state ideology," Jin told AFP.
"This certainly has an impact on believers' access to the Bible," he added.
The state-linked China Christian Council estimates the country has around 20 million Christians -- excluding Catholics -- in official churches supervised by the authorities.
But the true number of worshippers could be higher, at least 40 million to 60 million, according to some estimates, as some pray at "underground" or "house" churches which seek to exist outside government control.
