Representative Foley says that in 2018, the Chinese official educational organization called the Editorial and Reviewing Committee approved Professional Ethics and Law, edited by Zhongmei Pan, Gang Li, and Baoyu Xu, as an official textbook. The textbook includes a heavily revised version of the story in John 8 about a woman brought to Jesus for judgment after being caught in the act of adultery. 

The original account reads: 

He (Jesus) stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” … 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. 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.” 

In the textbook, the altered passage now reads: 

Jesus once said to the angry crowd who was trying to stone a woman who had sinned, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.” When his words came to their ears, they stopped moving forward. When everyone went out, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, “I am also a sinner.” 

In the textbook, the altered passage now reads: 

Jesus once said to the angry crowd who was trying to stone a woman who had sinned, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.” When his words came to their ears, they stopped moving forward. When everyone went out, Jesus stoned thewoman himself, and said, “I am also a sinner.”

Foley says, “The textbook also adds, ‘But if the law can only be enforced by unblemished ones, the law will only die.’ The textbook infers that if only people without sin can enforce the law, the law will become powerless. It implies that because illegal behaviors of Chinese judicial officials in law enforcement are unavoidable, they should be tolerated.”

Representative Foley says that although some perceive the aim of the textbook to be the cultivation of the professional ethics of legal practitioners, the book violates professional ethics by fabricating biblical text. 

“The CCP has pressured the Christian community in China for years, trying to reinterpret the biblical doctrine and theology to conform to the socialist values Xi Jinping advocates,” Representative Foley says. “Until now, however, Chinese officials rarely, so openly presented an altered biblical passage in an official textbook.”

Representative Foley says that the textbook publication should mobilize the global Christian community to support the Christians of China in distributing the Bible as widely as possible. “We also need to remember and pray for the Christian attorneys whomthe government has imprisoned because of their faith. The only way to identify counterfeit money is to know what the original looks like. In the same way, the only way to expose counterfeit Bible stories and counterfeit Christian ethics is to support Chinese Christians in Bible distribution and in the care and support of Christian attorneys in prison.”

Individuals interested in donating to Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with the house church Christians of China can visit www.vomkorea.com/en/donation or give via electronic transfer to: 

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303 

Account Holder: (사)순교자의소리 

Please note “China” on the transfer