A while back a read a story about a prominent Chinese governmental official announcing that they had studied for many years to determine what had made America so successful as a nation and finally determined it to be Christianity and Christian principles....does anyone have a link to this or additional details, names, etc?
2007-11-15 05:34:14 · 6 answers · asked by whitehorse456 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Wasn't easy, but I found it!!....see below.
It has been reported that Jiang Zemin, president of China from 1993 to 2003, said that he was tempted to make Christianity the official religion of China (1) — a startling statement from the head of a country committed to atheism. What could have moved President Zemin to make such a declaration?
Chinese scholars spent twenty years trying to discover why America is both the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. Consider the following quote regarding their conclusions.
2007-11-15 06:55:23 · update #1
One of the things we [Chinese scholars] were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact the pre-eminence of the West [America] over the world. We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you [America] had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on the economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this. (2)
1. Ken Eldred, God is at Work, p. 73.
2. Rodney Stark, The Victory Reason, p. 235.
2007-11-15 06:55:35 · update #2
I don't know whether they actually said it, but anyone who studies history can be in little doubt that American and European civilisation owe everything to their Christian heritage. The trouble today is that we are losing sight of this, and the increasing secularising of Western society is rapidly eroding our civilisation.
2007-11-15 05:56:17 · answer #1 · answered by A.M.D.G 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Glad you found it. While this does seem to be true,(the account from the Chinese) we must also remember, they are convinced that Americans(the government) has used and tries to use Christian missionaries as a way to influence not only other country's cultures, but to change their governments too.
No wonder they have tortured and imprisoned and killed Christians.
2007-11-15 11:39:17 · answer #2 · answered by Jed 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. They are wrong though.
A.M.D.G: Your statement:
"but anyone who studies history can be in little doubt that American and European civilisation owe everything to their Christian heritage."
is incorrect.
I studied history.
You neglect to mention that American and European civilization owes ancient Greece, Rome, Indo-Europens, Celts, Plato, (ancient) Islamic scholars and secularism enormous credit.
Christianity took Europe into the Dark Ages...
Add to that the system of law that they commonly use (Anglo-Saxon common law) and you have already found an enormous percentage of what makes so-called modern civilization. The biggest chunk is commerce and secularism.
So you are mistaken in your first statement. We don't owe everything to Christianity at all.
"Roman emperors liked to commission public libraries, often attached to temples. Temples usually had libraries attached to them, and schools, colleges and even public baths had libraries. In addition there were public libraries funded by government or local government, official archives which were not public and private libraries. The first private library in Rome was composed of the captured library of Aristotle, and they were common by 50 BC. According to Seneca, by 65 AD, almost all the upper-class homes in Rome had private libraries."
2007-11-15 06:05:44 · answer #3 · answered by Bajingo 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
kinda sucks when you think about what the chinese government did to all its catholics citizens hmm?
a book you might beinterested in "How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization"
2007-11-15 05:41:48 · answer #4 · answered by Adam of the wired 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i doubt thats true
to this day the movies the ten commandments ben hur and the passion of the christ are banned in china as promoting superstitious beliefs
they are an atheist country
2007-11-15 05:43:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I would like to see it too. I haven't heard anything, sorry.
2007-11-15 05:40:51 · answer #6 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋