China

More than 100 Chinese police officers and SWAT team members closed a newly constructed church and beat dozens of Christians who were guarding it, and then buried Bibles and hymnbooks before leaving.

China’s crackdown on Christianity escalated March 20 when the government of the fifth-largest city began issuing rewards to those who report “illegal religious activities,” including house church meetings.

The faith-based hit film I Can Only Imagine grossed more than $83 million in the United States, but its impact around the world may have been even greater.

China shut down a well-known 1,000-member Beijing church over the weekend and then changed the locks to prevent members from returning to the building.

A video showing Chinese Christians shouting for joy and even crying after receiving their first Bibles has sparked a range of emotions from believers in the United States.

Following the arrest of 44 worshipers from house church meetings in southwestern China in February, police in Chengdu this month arrested a married couple from the church and beat them during interrogation, the church reported.

A Chinese official says the country is vowing to eliminate Christianity in China, according to The Christian Post.

Chinese officials arrested a pastor and three of his church members last month after they objected to the forced removal of a cross on church property.

The steadily deteriorating state of religious freedom in China has been a frequent topic of late, both here on BreakPoint and other media outlets. The picture is bleak. An estimated one million Muslim Uighurs have been detained in what are essentially re-education camps, as part of an attempt to erase their religious and cultural identity.

Christians in China’s Henan province hoping to celebrate the new year with Christ-centered calendars learned in recent days that such items are prohibited.