Bible exhibition highlights
Christianity in China



NEW YORK - From a stone tablet dating from 781 AD to a New Testament produced by a modern printing press, the Bible has had a long history in China.


That history, along with insights into today's church life in China, was presented recently for the first time in the United States by the China Christian Council and Three-Self Patriotic Movement.


Ms Diane Allen, co-ordinator of the China Programme, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said the Bible ministry exhibition is intended as both an educational tool and vehicle for friendship.


The exhibition, "A Lamp to My Feet, A Light to My Path", was held at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine from June 5 to 12. It had earlier been displayed at the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles and at a church in Atlanta.


Exhibits included some early Chinese Bibles, including one of the few surviving copies similar to one presented to Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty in 1894, and a carving on a 100-year-old block of camphor wood, depicting the life of Jesus.


Created over a 10-year period by artist Zhang Wanlong, it stands 5.25 feet high and is 12.15 feet long. Seventy-five Bible stories are told through the carving. - United Methodist News Service.