Choice of Churches by Christians among University Students in Beijing and Their Religious Commitment

Data from Survey of University Students' Attitude toward Christianity in Beijing shows that Christians among university students in Beijing convert to Christianity mainly because of the influence of their family and social network. These Christians' choice between the Three-self Church and house churches depends on the system of meaning provided by the churches and the availability of space for religious practice. These facts verify some statements about conversion in the rational choice theory of Rodney Stark and Roger Finke. The fact that those Christians who belong to house churches, which have higher tension in Chinese society, have higher religious commitment than those who belong to the Three-self church. It does not contradict to some statements about religious commitment in the rational choice theory. But another fact that those who belong to unregistered house churches cannot stably participate in one single church's religious practice demonstrates that the rational choice theory cannot be applied to a religious market under ideological control without revision.