Last November, a government squad in Henan Province, China, removed the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me,” from a display at a state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement church because an official determined it was inconsistent with Chinese policy.

China’s actions in the last two months—which have included demolishing church structures, burning Bibles, closing house churches, arresting pastors, and forcing millions of Chinese Christians to sign statements renouncing their faith—represent a dramatic escalation in the Communist Party’s clampdown on religion in China.