Traditions

Where Evangelical Christians Are Located (illustration)

Most evangelicals now live in China, South Korea, India, Africa and Latin America, where they are going through a transforming religious experience. In various ways, they are making evangelical Christianity more conservative and more liberal. They are infusing it with local tradi …

The Butter and Cat Tradition (illustration)

A very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the window sill as an offering to God, since food was so scarce. One day his cat came in and ate the butter. To remedy this, …

Ritual of Tieing a Cat to the Bedpost (illustration)

A very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the window sill as an offering to God, since food was so scarce. One day his cat came in and ate the butter. To remedy …