Chinese Journal of Sociology

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New Generation’s Trusts on Christianity and the Mediation Effect： Based on the Data in Yangtze River Delta

  

  1. LI Feng，School of Social Development, East China University of Political Science and Law
  • Online:2015-03-24 Published:2015-03-24
  • Contact: LI Feng，School of Social Development, East China University of Political Science and Law E-mail:lffile@126.com
  • Supported by:
    The paper is supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China，“The Paradigm Debate of between Secularization Theory and Religion Rational Choice Theory and the Dialogue Based on the Experience of China”(13CSH001).

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Abstract: The massive entering of Christianity into China has been related to the invasion of Western countries into modern China and the involvement of China into the process of globalization.In order to save the nation，some social elites introduced scientism and cultural nationalism into China.As a result，Christianity was portrayed as superstition and yangjiao (foreign religion).The thoughts evolved to materialistic scientism and antiimperialism/antirevisionist nationalism.At the same time，they were ideologized and shared by all the people during the state regime construction.After reform and opening，China had embedded into the process of globalization，and the comprehensive national power is strengthening.At the same time，Christianity is growing rapidly.How do people think of it?Based on the classic cohort analysis and a cultural perspective in institutional trust study，this paper intends to answer：Is there any difference in terms of trust on Christianity between the new and the elder generations?Are the scientism and cultural nationalism still the mediator effect between the cohorts and their trust on Christianity? What is the trend of Chinese’s attitudes to Christianity? Using the data from the Survey about Religious Faith in Yangtze River Delta (2011)，this research finds：1) The new generation has more trust in Christianity than the elder one. 2) The scientism and cultural nationalism have the partial mediation effect between the cohorts and the trust in Christianity，but the effect is very weak. To some extent，from these findings we can infer that the spiritual transformation of new generation is developing toward a good way. Meanwhile，due to the limitation of the cross sectional data，the findings of the paper cannot be generalized as we don’t consider the factor of the individual life course.

Key words: new generation , trust on Christianity , cultural nationalism, scientism