According to research from Purdue University professor Fenggang Yang, within less than a generation, China could be home to more Christians than any nation on earth. Though officially, the communist country of 1.3 billion is atheist, Christianity has spread so rapidly, that by 2030, it could be home to more than 247 million Christians. In an interview with The Telegraph, Prof. Yang noted that the country’s Protestant churches had just one million members in 1949; in 2010, that number was 58 million. Many of those attend unsanctioned, “underground” house churches in an effort to avoid government oversight. Catholicism is also growing in China. The Telegraph report showed that beyond just church-going, interest in Christianity is on the rise throughout the country. The story notes that, “A recent study found that online searches for the words ‘Christian Congregation’ and ‘Jesus’ far outnumbered those for ‘The Communist Party’ and ‘Xi Jinping’, China’s president.” Prof. Yang told the paper, “Mao thought he could eliminate religion. He thought he had accomplished this. It’s ironic—they didn’t. They actually failed completely” …
