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That Christianity reached China by the end of the first century has long been dismissed as a myth. Now, says the Chinese People's Daily, evidence suggests it really happened. Wang Weifan from Jinling Seminary says tombstone carvings from about a.d. 86 depict Bible stories and Christian designs. "Somebody certainly was taking the Great Commission rather seriously," says Ralph Covell, senior professor of world Christianity at Denver Seminary. Though this discovery may reset the date of Christianity's arrival by 550 years, Covell notes that the a.d. 635 meeting between Nestorian Christian Alopen and Chinese emperor T'ang T'ai Tsung had much greater influence.

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For more information and to see a picture of the tombstone carvings, see:

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty—Century Online China Art News (August 2, 2002)

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October 7 2002, Vol. 46, No. 11