Theological Musings

Update on Luis Palau's Comments

Back in November, I wrote a post that took issue with the statements of Paul Crouch and Luis Palau regarding house churches in China registering with the Chinese government. In that post, I expressed frustration that these gentlemen seemed to misunderstand the effect of registration on house churches in China and that they painted a picture of the house church Christians as being the ones breaking the law.

By way of update, I felt the need to follow up on this because of an article in the most recent Christianity Today magazine. The article can be found here. Mr. Palau has now backed down on his statements regarding house church registration and expressed regret over them.

[In his previous statements] Palau spoke positively of religious freedom in China, saying that the way house churches register in China "is similar to the way churches must register in the U.S." He also said, "You don't get arrested unless you break the law."

Palau has since said he regrets making the remarks. "It's not my role as an evangelist to suggest that churches in China should register," Palau said in a press release responding to criticism. "My role is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ."

In an interview with CT, Palau declined to elaborate on his views. "I expressed my views in a moment of exuberance, thinking it might be helpful, but it turned out not to be helpful," he said. "My goal is to protect, encourage, and bless God's people."

I'm very grateful to read about this. Apparently, according to this BPNews article, the retraction was issued November 28. I would have posted this sooner had I known.

Until next time,

steve :)

posted by Steve Sensenig at 7:08 AM