China | Religion and the Communist Party

Render unto Caesar

The party’s conservative wing finds religion—and dislikes it

|BEIJING

THERE was a time when Devon Chang had difficulty reconciling his two chosen faiths: Christianity, which he embraced in 2005 at the age of 19, and the Communist Party of China, which had embraced him a year earlier. Did his submission to an almighty God not mean he must renounce the godless club of Marx and Mao?

Not necessarily. A fellow convert's university lecturer suggested that if all Communist Party members found Jesus, then Christianity could rule China. “So it's a good thing for me to become a Christian,” Mr Chang reasoned.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "Render unto Caesar"

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