Rev. Franklin Graham reacted to news of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) reported plans to essentially “rewrite” the Bible over the next decade, making it clear that God’s Word “never changes, no matter how hard the devil tries.”
“The Chinese Communist Party has a 10-year plan to rewrite the Bible. All I can say is — Good luck,” Graham wrote.
“The Bible warns about the serious consequences of adding to or taking away from the Word of God. God’s Word never changes, no matter how hard the devil tries,” he added.
Graham linked to an opinion piece penned by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the newly created U.S. House Select Committee on China. In it, he revealed the CCP is working on a project to rewrite religious texts as part of an effort to “sinicize” religion.
Gallagher provided a central example of what could come, pointing to a Chinese university textbook in 2020 which essentially rewrote the Gospel of John.
John 8 tells the story of the adulterous woman, who Jesus — the only individual who could have condemned her — extended grace to.
In an effort to test Jesus, the Pharisees brought the woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus, pointing to the law which commanded them to stone the woman.
“‘So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her,'” the scriptures read.
“And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him,” it continues.
Jesus, who was sinless, was the only one who could have cast the first stone.
“Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ she said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more,'” the scripture reads.
However, the CCP version described by Gallagher actually ends with Jesus showing no mercy and stoning the woman to death.
Gallagher wrote in part:
Across Henan province, local CCP officials forced Protestant churches to replace the Ten Commandments with Xi Jinping quotes. “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” became diktats like: “Resolutely guard against the infiltration of Western ideology.”
The 10-year project to rewrite the Bible, Quran and other sacred texts is all part of Xi Jinping’s quest to make the faithful serve the party rather than God.
The lawmaker also pointed to Chairman Xi’s declaration before the 19th Party Congress: “We will… insist on the sinicization of Chinese religions, and provide active guidance for religion and socialism to coexist.”
Further, Gallagher asserted that the Vatican has been at least somewhat complicit, allowing the CCP to “select Catholic bishops in China, supposedly in exchange for vague reassurances of ‘safety’ for some Catholic congregations which were immediately abrogated” in 2018.
Ultimately, Gallagher concludes, the CCP wants devotion to the state above all else. Read the full op-ed here.
RELATED VIDEO — Exiled Hong Kong Activist Nathan Law: The CCP Is ‘Crushing Civil Society’: