tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post3237223722067163506..comments2009-02-16T06:26:59.017-07:00Sherry Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17428918256547725187noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-29668170987657758722009-02-16T06:26:00.000-07:002009-02-16T06:26:00.000-07:00Anon:<BR/><BR/>I don't know. Issuing baptismal certificates is normal practice around the world in situation where the Church is not persecuted. I doubt very much that they were baptized en masse since those 13,000 new Catholics were scattered around the most populous nation on earth. <BR/><BR/>I'm afraid that I don't know a source to ask off the top of my head.Sherry Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17428918256547725187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-30838039938615485372009-02-15T22:25:00.000-07:002009-02-15T22:25:00.000-07:00I've a question I hope you can help me with in regards to these baptisms. Was there some sort of 'official' certificate of baptism given to each newly baptized? A record of any kind kept? Of were people just baptized en masse with no records as we in the US would be familiar? I would appreciate an authoritative source - someone or something with lots of credibility that could hold up before a judge. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-19119759214263385882008-04-12T06:57:00.000-06:002008-04-12T06:57:00.000-06:00Because it was late and I was tired and didn't have the energy to spend the 30 seconds to bring up my statistics file.<BR/><BR/>And because the real context is this:<BR/><BR/>The most explosive growth in the history of Christianity has occurred in China over the past 30 years and it is beginning to re-shape the cultural landscape of this ancient land.<BR/><BR/>1900 – 1.6 million Chinese Christians or .04% of the total population <BR/><BR/>1970 – 1.5 million Chinese Christians or .02% of the total population (post cultural revolution of the 60's)<BR/><BR/>2000 – 89 million or 7% of the total population. <BR/><BR/> This would mean that there are 59 times as many Christians in China as there were 30 years ago. <BR/><BR/> *Independent Christianity* in China is the fastest growing religion in the world with well over *2 million conversions per annum.* <BR/><BR/>97% of Chinese Christians are Independents which, for David Barrett, includes non-Three Self Catholics in union with Rome (and therefore independent of the state Church).<BR/><BR/>Barrett's 2050 estimate: 168 million Christians or 11.69% of the Chinese population <BR/><BR/>David Aikman’s Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power (2003) makes the case that the staggeringly rapid Christianization of China, which is affecting many educated young adults in urban settings, could change the global balance of power. If David Barrett’s fairly conservative estimates hold true, China will be the 3rd largest Christian nation on earth (after the US and Brazil) by 2050.<BR/><BR/>So those 13,000 new Catholics are just the tip of a tiny sliver of the whole phenomena. East Asia is the center of Christian growth in our generation.<BR/><BR/>And that's the real perspective.Sherry Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17428918256547725187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-59782501966370158952008-04-12T06:05:00.000-06:002008-04-12T06:05:00.000-06:00Why don't you really put the numbers in perspective: China has 1.3 billion people; the US has 300 million.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com