The question came to me about “where can you buy bibles to take them into China?” The simple answer to this question is China! China prints thousands of Bibles every year and you can actually buy Bibles in China. Many Christians have also opened up Christian bookstores in China. Many people believe that Bibles are illegal in China, but the truth is that it is illegal to smuggle Bibles into China. Like the group that recent got 300 Bibles confiscated when they tried to smuggle them in for the olympics. Click here to read the story.
A person commenting on this story had to say:
“Millions of Bibles are printed in Nanjing by the Amity Printing Co. Any Chinese person who wants to buy a Bible CAN.”
“The president of one of those semanaries did say “Americans do harm when they smuggle Bibles into China like spies, we do not need James Bond for Jesus here, anybody can buy a Bible”.
Now I am for getting as many Bibles as we can to any part of the world, but we need to stop and ask ourselves what is the best way to do that. If you can buy Bibles in China, then why doesn’t everyone have one? First, because they don’t print enough for everyone to have one. Second, because some can’t afford one. Thirdly, because they don’t know to buy one. You can buy bibles very cheap in China and if someone wanted one it wouldn’t be to hard to get one.
Also, we need to look at this law on smuggling and customs in China. It isn’t just the Bible but it is any book that you try to smuggle in at large is going to be confiscated. China wants their books approved buy them and printed in their country for their economy.
Another commentator on this article states:
“Imagine for a moment that the items confiscated weren’t 300 copies of the Bible rather that they were 300 copies of, let’s say, The Joy of Cooking. Not only would this not be a news story, nearly all would understand the concept that countries have different customs laws.”
So on your next short-term trip to China, check the custom laws and with your missionary to find out what is the best way for you to give Bibles out in China. In the end you may even be a better steward of God’s money by buying them at a cheaper price!
November 28th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Good, everywhere we go we meet folks in churches who either support or have smuggled Bible into China. Kinda hard to say anything about it when your on deputation though.
December 1st, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Well, hopefully these articles are helpful.
Thanks for the comment!
January 31st, 2012 at 1:16 pm
We’ve got good friends who print and distribute around 1,000,000 Bibles IN China each year… and they can’t keep up with the demand. What the government prints simply isn’t enough, but smuggling them is too slow and not cost effective (about $30/each). Our friends print AND deliver them for about $1.80.
February 1st, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Thanks for the insight Eugene!