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In 19th century Britain the proportion of prominent people who maintained an anti-Christian materialist atheism was negligible, and a significant number of those who did embrace it were unsatisfied and returned to their religious beliefs. There was a a significant pattern among Victorian popular radicals: the regaining of their Christian faith. Arguments from design, the a priori ontological argument, and the ability of Christianity to offer a secure foundation for morality persuaded Victorian secularists to convert.<ref> Timothy  Larsen, "The Regaining of Faith: Reconversions among Popular Radicals in Mid-victorian England," ''Church History'' 2001 70(3): 527-543</ref>  

In 19th century Britain the proportion of prominent people who maintained an anti-Christian materialist atheism was negligible, and a significant number of those who did embrace it were unsatisfied and returned to their religious beliefs. There was a a significant pattern among Victorian popular radicals: the regaining of their Christian faith. Arguments from design, the a priori ontological argument, and the ability of Christianity to offer a secure foundation for morality persuaded Victorian secularists to convert.<ref> Timothy  Larsen, "The Regaining of Faith: Reconversions among Popular Radicals in Mid-victorian England," ''Church History'' 2001 70(3): 527-543</ref>  

==China==

==China==

In China the [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1900 marked one of the darkest episodes of anti-Christian violence until it was defeated by an international military invasion.  The Boxers began as an obscure, anti-Christian, antimissionary, and antiforeign peasant movement in northern China. The Empress Dowager Cixi was pleased when Boxers attacked foreigners who were building railroads, exploiting China's mineral wealth, dividing up the port trading concessions, and converting many peasants to an alien faith. In June the Boxers invaded the city and slaughtered many Chinese Christians and Westerners. The Chinese government was unable or unwilling to control the situation. Western civilians, military personnel, and Chinese Christians retreated to the legation quarter. For 55 days they survived with limited food and water. In August Western troops occupied the city by force of arms. The Empress Dowager grudgingly agreed to indemnify the Western governments and to make many additional concessions. Subsequent reforms laid the foundation for the end of Manchu rule and the establishment of a modern nation.  Chritian missionaries expanded rapidly and by the 1920s were aided by the rule of a Christian, [[Chiang Kai-shek]]. When [[Mao Zedong]] and the Communsist came to power in 1949, they expelled or jained most of the missionaries and tried to suppress or tightly control Christianity.<ref> Diana Preston, "Ihe Boxer Rising," ''Asian Affairs'' 2000 31(1): 26-36</ref>  

In China the [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1900 marked one of the darkest episodes of anti-Christian violence until it was defeated by an international military invasion.  The Boxers began as an obscure, anti-Christian, anti-missionary, and anti-foreign peasant movement in northern China. The Empress Dowager Cixi was pleased when Boxers attacked foreigners who were building railroads, exploiting China's mineral wealth, dividing up the port trading concessions, and converting many peasants to an alien faith. In June the Boxers invaded the city and slaughtered many Chinese Christians and Westerners. The Chinese government was unable or unwilling to control the situation. Western civilians, military personnel, and Chinese Christians retreated to the legation quarter. For 55 days they survived with limited food and water. In August Western troops occupied the city by force of arms. The Empress Dowager grudgingly agreed to indemnify the Western governments and to make many additional concessions. Subsequent reforms laid the foundation for the end of Manchu rule and the establishment of a modern nation.  Christian missionaries expanded rapidly and by the 1920s were aided by the rule of a Christian, [[Chiang Kai-shek]]. When [[Mao Zedong]] and the Communist came to power in 1949, they expelled or jailed most of the missionaries and tried to suppress or tightly control Christianity.<ref> Diana Preston, "The Boxer Rising," ''Asian Affairs'' 2000 31(1): 26-36</ref>

 

==India==

==India==

In [[India]] Christians have long faced the issue of their and national identity in terms of two dominant models of Indian nationalism. These are the liberal democratic model of an even-handed secular state (an idea which was presumed to have won out at independence in 1947) and the more recently enhanced model of Hindu nationalism - a view which is less accommodating and which sees little room for Muslims and Christians in a nation-state intent on promoting Hindu religious and cultural values. A small Indian Christian educated elite endorsed the aims of the Indian National Congress founded in 1885 and, having suffered from European control and dominance in the churches, appreciated all the more readily the need for a genuine partnership and collaboration between Indians and Europeans. While they argued that national regeneration would come only through the values associated with the Christian movement, they also had to demonstrate that Christianity itself was not specifically European and that Indian Christians had a genuine commitment to India and were not 'foreigners' alienated from their own culture. There were three basic phases in Christian relations with the nationalist movement: an early period of hope and enthusiasm, including the active involvement of Christians in the Indian National Congress; a phase of disillusionment, increasing suspicion, and withdrawal, largely in response to the rise of militant and anti-Christian Hindu nationalism; and a period of partial recovery encouraged by a growing disillusionment with the British, Gandhi's initial attitude and 'helpful' comments, and recognition that a Hindu-dominated regime was an inevitability. There were also three basic Indian Christian attitudes toward the nationalist struggle. The great majority of Christians appear to have been largely indifferent to the movement, being more concerned with local issues such as family, caste, and local church or mission affairs. Others were openly hostile. They believed that any benefits they had were the result of the work of European missionaries and that Hindu majority rule would undermine hard-won achievements - not the least of which was protection against discrimination. A third group, which included most of the Christian nationalists, felt that they had a great deal in common with moderate Hindus and that collaboration in the building of the new nation would not only ensure greater protection for Indian Christians but would benefit all parties concerned.<ref>Geoffrey A. Oddie, "Indian Christians and National Identity, 1870-1947," ''Journal of Religious History'' 2001 25(3): 346-366, in [[EBSCO]]. </ref>

In [[India]] Christians have long faced the issue of their and national identity in terms of two dominant models of Indian nationalism. These are the liberal democratic model of an even-handed secular state (an idea which was presumed to have won out at independence in 1947) and the more recently enhanced model of Hindu nationalism - a view which is less accommodating and which sees little room for Muslims and Christians in a nation-state intent on promoting Hindu religious and cultural values. A small Indian Christian educated elite endorsed the aims of the Indian National Congress founded in 1885 and, having suffered from European control and dominance in the churches, appreciated all the more readily the need for a genuine partnership and collaboration between Indians and Europeans. While they argued that national regeneration would come only through the values associated with the Christian movement, they also had to demonstrate that Christianity itself was not specifically European and that Indian Christians had a genuine commitment to India and were not 'foreigners' alienated from their own culture. There were three basic phases in Christian relations with the nationalist movement: an early period of hope and enthusiasm, including the active involvement of Christians in the Indian National Congress; a phase of disillusionment, increasing suspicion, and withdrawal, largely in response to the rise of militant and anti-Christian Hindu nationalism; and a period of partial recovery encouraged by a growing disillusionment with the British, Gandhi's initial attitude and 'helpful' comments, and recognition that a Hindu-dominated regime was an inevitability. There were also three basic Indian Christian attitudes toward the nationalist struggle. The great majority of Christians appear to have been largely indifferent to the movement, being more concerned with local issues such as family, caste, and local church or mission affairs. Others were openly hostile. They believed that any benefits they had were the result of the work of European missionaries and that Hindu majority rule would undermine hard-won achievements - not the least of which was protection against discrimination. A third group, which included most of the Christian nationalists, felt that they had a great deal in common with moderate Hindus and that collaboration in the building of the new nation would not only ensure greater protection for Indian Christians but would benefit all parties concerned.<ref>Geoffrey A. Oddie, "Indian Christians and National Identity, 1870-1947," ''Journal of Religious History'' 2001 25(3): 346-366, in [[EBSCO]]. </ref>