(Beijing – April 10, 2024) Translations of the works of religious reformer Martin Luther are being warned against, and online translation services are not providing translations of the works of John Calvin. The contents of the 16th-century reformer Martin Luther and reformer Calvin, Martin Luther, were both quietly “targeted” by the Chinese authorities.
When a Chinese Christian attempted to use an online search engine to translate content related to the Protestant Reformation, specifically involving Martin Luther, received a warning from the Chinese Internet network information management organization. The warning stated that when translating any content, one must adhere to the core socialist values.
The official Internet network information management organization cautioned:
“When translating any content, Chinese people must strictly abide by national laws and regulations, adhere to the core socialist values, actively spread positive energy, and safeguard the country’s cultural security and ideological security. Regarding religious content, we should uphold a scientific spirit and attitude, respect history, and respect the freedom of belief under different cultural backgrounds.”
The Chinese Internet network information management organization further emphasized: “At the same time, we must also recognize soberly that any religion must adapt to Chinese socialist society. In China, we encourage religious groups and believers to love their country and religion, actively guide religions to adapt to socialist society, and contribute to promoting social harmony, national unity, and cultural prosperity.”
The content of these warnings is in complete alignment with China’s official promotion of religious political declarations.
The content that the Christian sought to translate did not involve any national security issues. It simply mentioned Martin Luther (1483-1546), stating that “he was the first Protestant to successfully challenge papal authority,” and that “Luther’s theological inquiry was closely linked to his personal doubts and spiritual struggles. As he addressed these dilemmas, his call for reforming the Roman Catholic Church became more urgent. Luther urged organizational and theological reforms within the church, advocating for greater autonomy for local bishops from Rome.”
It seems that the use of words like “challenge,” “struggle,” “reform,” and “autonomy” in a relatively short passage may have triggered sensitive words in Chinese translation engine tools.
The Christian stated, “There are three chapters related to Calvin that cannot be translated, with a warning of content risk.” The translation engine completely blocked the translation of this content, showing a message that said, “Error: Unable to retrieve data from the translation engine API.”
The translation content the Christian needed was only about the introduction of Calvin’s life, pointing out the systematic and precise nature of Calvin’s works. It also mentioned Calvin’s logical consistency and his acceptance of humanistic studies during the Renaissance period.
These contents do not involve any national security or other related “sensitive words,” but are labeled as ‘error information” and prevented from being translated.
The Christian said, “The Reformed faith is now on the radar.”
Several house church pastors in China who adhere to the Reformed faith are currently imprisoned in Chinese prisons, with the most famous case being Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, who was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to nine years in prison.
For the safety of the source, this report chose anonymity to protect the identity of the Christian.
