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SUBORDINATION, SEPARATION, AND AUTONOMY: CHINESE PROTESTANT APPROACHES TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND STATE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2020

Pan-Chiu Lai Open the ORCID record for Pan-Chiu Lai [Opens in a new window]
Pan-Chiu Lai*
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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Abstract

In the history of the religion-state relationship in China, a model of subordination of religion to the state has been dominant for centuries. In recent years, some Chinese Protestant churches have advocated the model of separation of church and state. Through a historical and theological analysis, this study argues that in order to relieve the tensions between Chinese Protestantism and the contemporary Chinese government, a better conceptual alternative is to reconsider the issue in terms of autonomy rather than separation or subordination, and to argue for legally allowing the coexistence of both official and nonofficial churches and grant different degrees of autonomy to each.

Keywords

Chinaprotestantchurch-state relationsHong Kong
Type
Symposium: Debating Religion and Public Life in Contemporary China
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , April 2020 , pp. 149 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2020

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References

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