by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - The government of China is working to rewrite the Bible to reflect communist views and deny the deity of Christ, Christian Headlines (CH) reports. The project is part of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s imposition of a nationwide Sinicization policy.
In an interview with Faithwire about the communist Chinese Bible project, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Todd Nettleton said the government announced its plan in 2019. "At the time, they said it would be about a 10-year process … to release a new translation of the Bible," Nettleton said.
VOM recently gave an example of how the new Bible would distort the Scriptures: in the Gospel story of Jesus forgiving the adulterous woman, the new version of John chapter 8 would have Christ telling her, “I am also a sinner.”
Denying the deity of Christ, this example of John 8 was actually written into a 2020 Chinese school textbook, CH reports. "In one sense, it's just so arrogant to think, 'I'm going to rewrite the story of Jesus'… but then you think about denying the deity of Christ," Nettleton noted."If Jesus is a sinner, then he's not God."
"The issue for the Chinese Communist Party is control,” Nettleton said. It is always about control. And they see the … Christian message as something that would take control away from the communist party."