Why So Many People Study with Shincheonji. Why Doubt it?

Dear reader,

Thank you for taking these topics to heart.

For the last two hundred years, accounts of supernatural entities (angels, Jesus, a spirit of prophecy) have appeared to apocalyptic leaders with detailed explanations about the last chapter of Christianity - information about the Messiah's return to earth and the true meaning of ambiguous prophecies.

The visions are intriguing because they unlock puzzling Bible predictions on the end-times.  Ironically, they give answers to questions the Bible itself does not answer on its own.  This makes it interesting.  Further, the information is used by their leader to convince others it must be from God.  Leaders then recruit people with detailed studies about their revelation-vision, which becomes their primary focus.

With spiritual discernment, we know that just because explanations come from a supernatural experience or vision, it does not necessarily mean it is true.  Anyone who studies recent Christian history knows that many sincere leaders have been deceived by spirit entities and visions.  The Apostle Paul warned that Satan and his messengers can masquerade as legitimate servants of God (2 Cor. 11:14,15).

These apocalyptic leaders also contend that they have been given a unique anointing or have had seals opened and explained before their eyes.  Therefore, all Christians must now listen to them to receive eternal life and be a part of final salvation.  

The new information from the leader brings a new freshness to the Bible. One young lady I know admitted that she started studying with Shinchonji because she was attracted to the freshness and newness of it all.  The Bible had become routine at that point in her life.

Others on the SCJ testimonial page have said that it was amazing to hear Shinchonji give such clarity and sureness when talking about biblical prophecies.  They wrote that no Christian minister was able to answer their Bible questions.  Only SCJ's explanations and details were found to be clear.  

Others have joined SCJ with a sincere heart to be a part of what God is doing.  To paraphrase a SCJ member, ¨If you hear that Revelation is being fulfilled in front of your eyes, why wouldn't you want to test it out for yourself?¨ The zeal and passion in the group often impresses people as well.  

So, why would many average Christians or Christian leaders question the veracity of these visions to end-time leaders?  Why doubt SCJ?  What causes devoted believers not to join them?

First, information directly from Jesus Christ´s revelation warns of deception, false messengers and spiritual lies from deceptive spirits all masked as Jesus´ final representative or revelation (Mt. 24:4,5, I Tim. 4:1, Lk. 21:8, I John 4:1, 2 Pet. 2:1, etc.).  This means that the Christian world is to stay away from any final messenger or spokesperson who appears in Jesus´ name.    

It is equivalent to a father warning his son never to open the door to masked strangers.  Yet, many masked strangers continually appear claiming to be sent by the father.  The warnings protect the son from harm.  The same is true with Jesus Christ and his words about final leaders in the end (Lk. 21:8).

Secondly, even though Christians have varying ideas about the end-times, one point that is evident in the Bible is that Jesus Christ returns himself without a mask, not as an invisible spirit via a human leader (I Thess 4:16, Acts 1:11, Mt. 24:30).  The same resurrected Jesus is the one who returns (Acts 1:11).  When leaders declare that Jesus Christ´s spirit is working through them, embodying his return, it is a different Jesus.

Third, Shincheonji follows the same pattern as other groups in history whose revelations and spiritual knowledge distort precious truths from Christ.  This casts doubt on the spiritual sources behind the information.  We observe this pattern in harmful movements in Christian history, such as Gnosticism, and in recent organizations such as the Watchtower Society.

These groups emphasize secret or revealed visions from God, yet the information distors elementary truths about salvation, Jesus of Nazareth, or some aspect of God´s identity.  Shincheonji does this with the Trinity, Jesus´ identity, the Holy Spirit, and redemption (i.e. more focus on being ¨in the know¨ than salvation from sin).

Fourth, another reason Christians distrust final leaders is because they become the final authority in their group.  They exalt themselves above the Bible (in practice, not theory) because they claim a unique anointing from God, which makes them the official interpreter/teacher of prophecies, parables, and other passages. This means the Scriptures can be made to mean anything the interpreter reveals them to mean.

The most obvious problem is when outside Christians see that meanings are ¨poured¨ into the Scriptures instead of letting the Scriptures give us the meanings.  One Shincheonji instructor told one individual to put aside everything he thought the Bible was revealing and only listen to the revealed word in SCJ.  In Christian experience, this is backwards.  God´s voice in the Scriptures correct end-time revelations (2 Tim. 3:16, Mt. 4:4,7,10), not the other way around.

Lastly, Christians disregard messages from visions that are contrary to God's heart and character.  When two people know each other well, it is easy to recognize messages which are contrary to the way they think or talk.  A case in point is when someone hacks a friend´s e-mail account and sends messages that they would never write.  The content proves the author is someone else.

In summary, although leaders with revelations from the invisible world bring freshness and new explanations to Bible prophecies, it is important to be alert when other inconsistencies and signs appear.

In the articles that follow, we attempt to look at some of these and other points in more depth.

Thank you for your interest, and God bless.

History Before Shincheonji: Where was Manhee Lee?

Dear reader, 

One phenomenon in Christian history is how apocalyptic leaders and movements give birth to other movements that claim to be the final movement in Christianity.

The following report sent by a professor in California substantiates Manhee Lee's involvement in three other Korean end-time movements before Shincheonji.  

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A Short Genealogy of the Shinchonji Church of Jesus (1)

Here is some information on historical and theological connections between the Shinchonji Church of Jesus and other apocalyptic Korean movements.  Manhee Lee (b. 1931), the founder of the Shinchonji Church of Jesus, originally belonged to a faith-healing group begun by Tae Sun Park (b. 1915) (S. Lee 139).  This group was known as the Olive Tree Movement, because Mr. Park linked himself to the return of Christ as one (or both) of the two witnesses or olive trees in Revelation 11 (Grayson 209; Moos 117).  (His followers, in fact, revised Wesley’s hymn to read “Joy to the world, the Olive has come” [Moos 116]).  Mr. Park also identified himself as the mysterious, ever-victorious figure who comes from the east in Isaiah 41:2 (Grayson 209).  His followers called him the “Righteous Man of the East,” and they (or he) claimed he would never die—or, at least, that the last day of the world would come within his lifetime (Moos 120).

The Olive Tree movement was the largest and fastest growing of the new, syncretic Korean religions after the Korean War (Grayson 208).  By 1963 it had gained from 800,000 to 2,000,000 followers in over 300 congregations (Moos 119).  Many of the followers lived in specially constructed industrial communities outside of Seoul that made a variety of “Zion” products—everything from blankets and underwear to caramels and artificial flowers (Moos 113).  The movement also had a popular presence in rural areas, where Mr. Park’s distinctive white churches, with crimson crosses painted atop crenellated towers, dotted the countryside (Grayson 207). By the mid-to-late 1960s, it seemed to some observers that Mr. Park’s movement would supplant mainline Protestant groups in South Korea (Grayson 208).

Mr. Park was an industrialist and elder in the Presbyterian Church who was attracted to revivalist movements.  He himself had a growing sense that there must be more to Christian faith than the Presbyterians seemed to offer.  While helping to lead an all-night revival meeting for 20,000 people in southern Seoul in 1955, he received a vision of fire and water descending from heaven.  He then came down from the platform and massaged the head of a man identified as a cripple, and Mr. Park’s helpers then cried out that the man could walk.  By sunrise, after Mr. Park had circulated among the crowd and massaged many heads and limbs, his helpers shouted to great applause that he had healed 1,000 people (Grayson 208; Moos 115-116).  Thus the Olive Tree movement was born.

Park was expelled from the Presbyterian Church in 1956 on charges of heresy.  He claimed in return that he was a truer Christian than the ones who denounced him, and his followers continued to call him Elder Park.  It should be noted here that a vexed relationship with the Presbyterian Church has marked not only Mr. Park’s movement but also all of his successor movements, all of which have regarded themselves as supra-denominational (Grayson 208; Moos 117).

The worship services that evolved in the Olive Tree movement were somewhat Presbyterian in form but came to involve hours of frenzied hymn-chanting, hand-clapping, and drum-beating.  Many followers, both women and men, deserted their families to donate all their worldly possessions in order to gain eternal life on Mr. Park’s terms.  According to the anthropologist Felix Moos, “Women followers were observed to be especially eager to offer whatever possessions they had—rings, watches, clothing; some ardent believers were even seen shedding their skirts during revival services since they had nothing else to give” (119).

Mr. Park was accused, among other things, of injuring and defrauding his followers, and he was sentenced to two and a half years in jail in 1959.  But a regime change resulted in a swift pardon, and Mr. Park spent only a few months in prison (Grayson 208; Moos 117-18).  Scandals connected with Mr. Park and his family from the 1970s onward, however, resulted in mass defections (Grayson 208). 

By 1969, Manhee Lee had already abandoned the Olive Tree movement to join another—the Tent Temple movement.  The Tent Temple—or the Temple of the Tabernacle—was founded by Jae Yul Yoo (b. 1949), also known as the “Young Servant.”  Mr. Yoo had previously been a follower of Jogkyu Kim and his Hosang prayer house.  When Mr. Kim became involved in a sexual scandal with a female member, however, Mr. Yoo left the group with a handful of members and started his own (S. Lee 138).

According to Mr. Yoo, Jesus spoke only in parables and secrets.  Since the end times were now said to be imminent, these parables and secrets needed to be illumined, and Mr. Yoo alone could properly do this. His method of interpretation was to match each passage of Scripture with its hidden twin.  For, according to Mr. Yoo, all verses come in secret pairs (S. Lee 139).

Mr. Yoo also taught that the Lord had prepared a secret room near the reservoir of Mt. Chungkye, on the southern outskirts of Seoul, as a refuge of escape from the battle of Armageddon.  After the chosen saints entered this valley, the world would be covered by fire.  Then the saints would be made into kings to rule the world (S. Lee 138-39). 

Mr. Yoo’s Tent Temple movement grew to 5,000 members in the 1970s.  The group shrank when Mr. Yoo was accused of fraud.  Mr. Yoo subsequently gave up his leadership of the movement, donated its assets to the Presbyterian Church, and moved to the United States in 1980, where he now pursues a private business and denounces the teachings of Manhee Lee, in part because Mr. Lee was critical of Mr. Yoo’s defection from his own movement (S. Lee 139, 143).

Manhee Lee’s Shinchonji Church of Jesus is one of several apocalyptic groups that came out of Mr. Yoo’s Tent Temple movement.  Two other such groups are Poong Il Kim’s Saegwang Central Church and the late In Hee Koo’s Heaven Gospel Witnessing Association (S. Lee 139). 

Mr. Kim, founder of the Saegwang Central Church, was originally an evangelist for Mr. Park and then a follower of Mr. Yoo.  He founded his own movement in 1974.  Like Mr. Yoo, he held that all passages in the Bible are secretly paired—and that one must know these secret pairings to be saved.  He named himself “The Counselor” or “Another Counselor.”  According to Mr. Kim, the Kingdom of Heaven would soon be established in Korea, and the abode of salvation would be in his church alone.  In 2009, he publicly confessed in a newspaper that he was not the divine Counselor after all, and he repented and apologized.  However, he has maintained leadership of his movement, and he continues to insist that believers can only receive their salvation through the Saegwang Central Church (S. Lee 140-42).

Like Manhee Lee, In Hee Koo of the Heaven Gospel movement had been part of Tae Sun Park’s group and, also like Manhee Lee, had joined the Temple Tent movement in the late 1960s.  He started his own Heaven Gospel movement in 1971 after receiving a vision in which he was commanded to “receive the worship of the nations.”  He was imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on pseudo-religions in 1975, and he died in prison in 1976.  Among his teachings: (1) the Korean flag was a symbol for God and contained the meaning and message of Scripture; (2) Scripture itself was a system of parables, secrets, symbols, and mirrored shadows;  (3) the saints should learn the words of God directly from those who had received the Spirit of God; (4) the second coming of Christ would take place in Korea; (5) Mr. Koo himself embodied that second coming; (6) judgment day would arrive on November 10, 1973.  When judgment day did not arrive as predicted, many of his followers literally wanted their money back.  Other followers, however, even after Mr. Koo had died, continued to believe that they had witnessed in him the second coming of Jesus (S. Lee 141-43).

After Mr. Koo’s death, the Heaven Gospel movement divided into many branches.  Among them, The Korean Jesus Churches of Heavenly Gospel Evangelical Association became the best known.  This group was headed by Chong Il Choi, who represented himself as the “wife “of Mr. Koo.  He was regarded as the “Lamb” who embodies the second coming of Christ in Revelation.  Mr. Choi also claimed that he could perfectly interpret all sixty-six books of the Bible.  Each of the branches of the Heaven Gospel movement vigorously asserts itself as the only path of true belief (S. Lee 141).

Manhee Lee’s Shinchonji Church of Jesus is the third main offshoot of the Tent Temple movement.  In addition to being a follower of Mr. Sun and then of Mr. Yoo, Mr. Lee subsequently followed Man Bong Baek, who claimed to be God and was referred to by many as “Solomon.”  Mr. Baek, like Mr. Koo, also stipulated a date for the end of the world.  When this date came and went, Mr. Baek’s followers deserted him.  Mr. Lee gathered some of these to form the Shinchoji Church of Jesus (SCJ).  Manhee Lee dates the official beginning of SCJ as 1984, which, he says, is “the year that the universe completed its orbit and returned to its point of origin” (M. Lee 44).

Like others from the Tent Temple movement, Manhee Lee asserts that the Bible is made up of parables and secrets, and that one must understand the exact meaning of these passages in order to be saved.  Manhee Lee, as the “promised pastor,” is the only one who can impart a complete mastery of the scriptures.  Also like others from the Tent Temple movement, Mr. Lee asserts that the new heaven and new earth will begin in Korea.  When the number of the saved reaches 144,000, the era of Shinchonji will begin at Gua Chun City, located in the same valley designated by Mr. Yoo.  At this time, or by this time, the souls of 144,000 martyrs, having waited in heaven, will enter the bodies of the 144,000 SCJ saints.  Mr. Lee himself, like Mr. Sun before him, claims that he will never die, and that his followers will partake of his “fleshly immortality,” a sort of redefined resurrection, through becoming the recipients of the spirits of the dead martyrs.  At present, Manhee Lee is in his early 80s and not in good health.  Recently, several leaders within SCJ have departed from the organization to begin their own movements, each leader claiming to be divinely anointed and uniquely possessed of the truth of the scriptures (S. Lee 140-43).

In summary, then, SCJ is one of three Korean apocalyptic movements that were all derived from Mr. Yoo’s Tent Temple movement.  In addition, the leaders of all three of these movements were originally involved in Mr. Park’s Olive Tree movement.  At least two of these third-generation movements, including SCJ, have in turn given rise to further, somewhat similar movements.  

Also in summary, it can be seen that SCJ demonstrates a number of common features with one or more of these related movements:

• A leader who claims divine appointment or divine identity, revealed through a vision.
• This leader’s claim of complete and exclusive understanding of the scriptures.
• A focus on the parables of Jesus and other figurative or “secret” portions of scripture—or other portions understood by the leader as figurative.
• An understanding of the leader’s exact interpretation of the parables and other figurative portions of scripture as prerequisite to a person’s salvation.
• The claim that no other leader or group offers the way of salvation.
• The claim that the leader will never die.
• The claim that the leader has a messianic role in the end times, which are imminent or in fact have already begun.
• The claim that Korea is a focal point of action in the end times.
• The claim that the valley of Mt. Chungkye in particular will be a refuge and gathering place for believers in the end times.
• The future role of these believers as rulers of the world.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Works Cited

Grayson, James Huntley.  Korea: A Religious History.  London: Routledge Curzon, 2002.

Lee, Man-Hee.  The Creation of Heaven and Earth.  Republic of Korea: Shinchonji Press, 2009.

Lee, Seung Yun.  “The Genealogy of Cults: ‘The Tabernacle-Temple Denomination.’”  Modern Religion April 2011: 138-43.

Moos, Felix.  “Some Aspects of Park Chang No Kyo—A Korean Revitalization Movement.”  Anthropological Quarterly July 1964: 110-20.

(1). Researched by professor Paul Willis, willis@westmont.edu, revised July, 2012.

     

A Misconception about Jesus Christ.

Dear reader,

One of the earliest spiritual movements against Christianity was Gnosticism.  In its simplest and reduced form, various Gnostic leaders and schools claimed to know more about Christ than the early Christians.  They taught they had hidden knowledge (gnosis) about who Jesus was, what the universe was about, and how to be saved from the evil world/physical matter.

In response to Gnosticism, early Christians wrote the first creed in Christian history.  From Gnosticism and other subsequent movements, Christian thinkers have noted a common theme - dark movements present a different Christ who is supposedly more real than the Christ of Christianity.

The apostles warned about erroneous ideas concerning Jesus.  John wrote that any spirit that denied Jesus coming in the flesh was a spirit of the antichrist (I Jn. 4:2,3), which is what many of the early Gnostic leaders denied.  Paul warned about philosophies that did not accept God´s fullness in Jesus' physical body (Col. 2:8,9).  He said that no Christian worker could ¨lay any other foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ¨ (I Cor. 3:11).  Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

One Christian researcher stated that the same Gnostic pattern is observed today in end-time movements.  Revelations to prophets from alleged angels, Jesus, or God teach a Jesus who is different in some aspect (and supposedly more accurate than the one in Christian circles).

What is one of the most common errors about Jesus Christ?

It is common for Christian cults to reveal a spirit-Christ who is resurrected as a spirit or becomes a spirit after he ascends into heaven.  Since Jesus is a spirit being, he then returns invisibly to earth to indwell the leader of an end-time group or invisibly chooses and guides their movement.  

Manhee Lee states that Jesus returns invisibly and unites with the flesh/body of the SCJ pastor (Manhee Lee).  ¨Jesus promised that when the gospel of heaven is spread to the ends of the earth, he will return in spirit to unite with his promised pastor¨ (Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 143).  One Shinchonji instructor said that Jesus was transfigured after his death and became a spirit (citing the vision of Jesus in Rev. 1).

Interestingly enough, Christian leaders and thinkers realize this is not the complete picture.

First, the information in the Scriptures is that the post-resurrection Jesus is not just a spirit.  Something happened to his human side.  He was the first human to be glorified (Col. 1:19, I Cor. 15:20).  Christ is the first man of a new, human existence. When confronted by the religious leaders, Jesus predicted something would happen to his physical body (Jn. 2:19-21).  His body, not the temple in Jerusalem, would be rebuilt.

When Christ rose from the dead, he proved he was not just a spirit (Lk. 24:39).  He challenged his disciples to touch his hands and feet.  His body was the same in some aspects, but totally different in another sense (i.e. glorified).  The body that suffered death was raised to life and never saw decay or destruction again (Ac. 2:31, 13:34).  Acts 13:34 says, ¨As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption.¨

It was a new human body in glory.  In Philippians 3:21, while mentioning God´s plan to glorify mortal bodies, Paul refers to Christ´s present body in glory.  ¨And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (or body of his glory in some translations)¨ (Phil. 3:21).

The disciples also believed that Jesus never lost his human side.  Years after his ascension, they continued to refer to Christ as a man.  ¨For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus¨ (I Tim. 2:5).  ¨He has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed¨ (Ac. 17:30).  In Hebrews 2, the Bible states that Jesus became humanity's high priest forever, a unique mediator who shares our human nature.

Secondly, if Jesus became a spirit after his ascension, then his human resurrection was not real.  It would be a contradiction of terms.  According to the definition of the resurrection, God powerfully infuses into a human body a new and higher glorified form with an indestructible nature (See I Cor. 15:42-44).  In other words, a resurrected human body is designed to exist forever.  This is what Jesus experienced when he rose from the dead.  His body was glorified, not disintegrated or transfigured into a spirit.

When the Corinthians asked about the future resurrection body, Paul explains that it's a higher body, imperishable, greater in power and glory (I Corinthians 15:42-44).  It is a body that is indestructible, which means nothing can destroy it.  It´s a body that puts on ¨immortality¨ (I Cor. 15:53).  Further, the word ¨body¨ in I Cor. 15 in the original language is used of a physical, material body, not an immaterial spirit-body.

End-time groups mistake ¨spiritual body¨ in 1 Cor. 15:44 for ¨spirit body,¨ which denies the physical side of the resurrection body.  ¨Spiritual body¨ refers to a human body infused with new, supernatural life.
    
How do final leaders justify their teachings of Jesus being a spirit?

First, leaders condition members by claiming that Christianity is in spiritual darkness.  They are the chosen prophets to reveal the real meaning of biblical definitions and passages.  Thus, even when the written words appear to communicate something different, only the leader's revealed meaning is the correct one.

Second, instead of harmonizing all the texts about Jesus, leaders use selected verses that speak of the Spirit of Jesus.  Yet, God´s voice in the Scriptures reveals two concepts regarding Jesus - his God-like nature and his glorified human side.  Both are true, not just one.  This is what Christian churches everywhere see - Christ is the first human of a new kind of existence, the first to rise from the dead in glory (Col. 1:19, Rev. 1:5).

These points are relevant when a leader talks about Jesus returning to earth as a spirit in a secretive way.  In contrast, Jesus says he will return as a king ¨in power and great glory¨ and all the nations will see him and mourn (Mt. 24:30). According to the angels in Acts 1:11, the same Jesus who left (in a glorified body) is the same one coming back, not a different Jesus.  Jesus, the Messiah, is not just a spirit.  He is much more.

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Addtional Points/Questions.

What about Shinchonji´s teaching that Jesus is a spirit based on the vision of Jesus in Revelation 1?  Could not Jesus have been transfigured like in Matthew 17 (i.e. transfigured into a spirit)?

First, the image in Revelation 1 is an image of a glorified Jesus, but it is not a literal description.  It reflects Old Testament images of God in glory (Dan. 7:9).  Second, when Jesus was transfigured in Mt. 17, he did not become a spirit.  He did not lose his physical humanity.  Rather, his glory was shown through his humanity.  Even Manhee Lee mentions that Jesus was still flesh.  ¨On the mountain of transfiguration Jesus and his disciples were still flesh, but Moses Elijah, and God were spirits¨ (p. 425, Creation of Heaven and Earth).  Third, the Bible teaches that even after the ascension, Jesus still possesses his human (and new glorified) body.  The Apostle Paul makes this point at the end of Phil. 3:21.

From these points, we see that the Bible shows that God did not destroy Jesus' humanity. On the contrary, he glorified it. I Peter 1:21 reads, ¨Through him (Christ) you believe in God, who raised him from the dead, and glorified him.¨  God gave him an imperishable resurrection body in glory, unlike our frail, sin-infested, and mortal bodies.  Christ Jesus is the first human to put on incorruption (I Cor. 15:20).

How could a normal physical body (¨flesh and blood¨) enter heaven, a spiritual place?

Regarding the phrase ¨flesh and bones¨ in I Cor. 15:50, it is a synonym for a corruptible, sin-tarnished body.  This is a phrase for mortal bodies, but not immortal, resurrection bodies.   The Apostle Paul is saying that a weak, dying body (i.e. flesh and blood) cannot enter heaven because it needs to put on ¨immortality¨ first (i.e. be glorified).  Since Jesus´s body put on immortality, it wasn't a problem. 

His new body was no longer mortal.  It was a supernatural body made for glory (i.e. a place of glory).  As mentioned above, it was both the same and different as his physical body before.  It was now superior in that it could defy normal limitations.  This is why it is not a mortal human body.  The Scriptures reveal that the Messiah´s humanity was glorified and physically taken up to heaven (Acts 1:9-11, Heb. 1:3).  

How do you explain that Paul says that there is a spiritual body in I Cor. 15:44?

As mentioned above, the meaning of the ¨resurrection¨ involves a new human body  (See Is. 26:19).  So, keep this in mind when thinking about a resurrected ¨spiritual body¨.  It is not people becoming resurrected spirits.  The phrase ¨spiritual body¨ in I Cor. 15:44 refers to a higher human body in contrast to mortal bodies, which are frail, corruptible, and sinful.  Further, the word ¨body¨ in Greek refers to a physical body, not an immaterial body.  When Jesus was raised, his body was not a spirit (Lk. 24:39).    

A resurrection body with no human body would be like a wedding without a bride.   By spiritual body, Paul is affirming that the resurrection body is not natural or normal.  It is superior to the sinful body.  The verses before and after v. 44 indicate that he is talking about a different kind of human body.   It is ¨spiritual¨ in the sense that it is a higher make up than the natural body.  In Romans 8:11,23, the Bible says our mortal bodies will experience a change like Jesus' did. 

(1) See Shinchonji's first article on the Trinity on their website where they say that Jesus is a spirit after his ascension.  

Questions for Intellectual Christians.

Dear reader,

Shincheonji/Shinchonji teaches that Jesus' words, Jesus' spirit (and, by extension, Jesus' intelligence) is uniquely tied to their human pastor, Manhee Lee.  He is the Lord Jesus´ representative in the last days - the flesh/body Jesus Christ uses on earth to fulfill his promises in Revelation.  This is why Mr. Lee's voice is considered the voice of Christ.

If you were a spiritual detective, what would make you or other thinking Christians doubt this claim?  What mistakes, contradictions, problems, practices, or lack of information would lead you to a different conclusion?  If a movement is from God, it should be sound in all areas, not just in Revelation.

Christian intellectuals who study characteristics of Christian cults (end-time movements) in history notice a common feature from the kingdom of darkness.  Visions from spirit beings (angels, Jesus, or God) will inaccurately represent Christianity or exaggerate claims to make it seem like they are the only ones who are spiritual and in the light.  Everyone else is in darkness.

For example, in Manhee Lee's book, Creation of Heaven and Earth, he considers pastors and evangelists in Christian circles to be unspiritual and care only about money.  Yet, I have met many missionaries and ministers in poor areas of Latin America who have a genuine love for the Lord Jesus and no interest in materialism or weath.  These claims by Mr. Lee are exaggerated and make it seem that he alone is reliable.

What other cases of exaggeration or misrepresentation do we see in Shincheonji?

Shincheonji, like other Christian cults/end-time groups introduce new concepts about God´s nature, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.  In doing so, they mock Christians who believe in the Trinity, the special relationship between God the Father, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit.  They all represent God´s nature but are distinct.  Christian cults deceptively define this relationship incorrectly or they argue that no one really knows how to define it.  The point is that they are the new revealers of God´s nature.  Yet, a misdefinition constitutes a red flag.

As one Christian pointed out, ¨Since Jesus Christ is the head of Christianity and supremely intelligent, he knows the definition Christians have been using for the last 1,500 years.¨ He is not going to use an erroneous definition to convince Christians that it is erroneous.  This would only hurt his cause.  On the contrary, such deception and misrepresentation is a spiritual tactic from the kingdom of darkness.

Imagine you met someone who claimed that American football was an illogical sport, but they re-defined the game to make it look illogical (e.g. that teams have five down or touchdowns count as 10 points).  Most people would not give them much credibility.

Once a leader of a Christian cult in Latin America met up with me to explain their group's teachings.  When he mentioned the Trinity was an unbiblical doctrine, I asked him to define it first.  When he did, he used an inaccurate concept of what Christians believe.  To me, this was a clear sign of a spiritual error.  

What about Shincheonji's position of the Trinity?

When I first started reading articles on Shincheonji´s website, I noticed two publications showing that the Trinity was not a biblical belief.  Naturally, they misdefined what Christians believe and have believed to make the Trinity seem false.  (See the article on this blog about the Trinity.)

I brought this point up to two different SCJ instructors independently, who were not sensitive to this point at all.  Rather, their answers were defensive. They replied that there are so many confusing definitions of the Trinity in Christianity.  (This is actually false.)  Furthermore, in SCJ´s articles, they did not claim that there were so many definitions.  As a matter of fact, they just used one oversimplified concept to disprove it.  

Although some Christians do not perfectly explain (like other teachings), Christian denominations across the board hold the same belief - a belief that comes from serious study of all the passages about Jesus' human and divine nature, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father.  It is really one of the most fundamental teachings in Christian history.  Yet, Shincheonji's two articles use a definition that no Christian community adheres to.

One Christian confessed, ¨If Shincheonji cannot define the Trinity correctly, why would I trust them on other matters, like prophecy.¨  This is the same red flag found in other groups that have spirit-revelations from the invisible world, revelations which re-define Jesus´ identity and make salvation a matter of belief in their teachigns instead of being united to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Another example of misrepresentation in SCJ deals with the Apostles' Creed.  Shinchonji makes several harsh comments about anyone who uses the Apostles' Creed.

¨Furthermore, because the Apostles' Creed is not found in the Bible and because it is full of lies, no one should recite it. It should be clear from the following passages why no one should recite the Apostles’ Creed.¨(1) 

¨Many cite the Apostles' Creed, which is not according to the Bible.¨(2)  

¨Is this not the same as the situation regarding the Apostles' Creed?  The apostles never wrote the Apostles' Creed. Others created it on their own and forced all Christians to confess it¨ (3). 

¨They should stop reciting the Apostle’s Creed because it contains several false doctrines¨(4)

These statements are ironic because it means that the Jesus presence inside Manhee Lee despises the Apostles' Creed.  Yet, the first Christians who wrote this creed (or statements of belief) did so to refute bizarre ideas from Gnosticism about Christ and the universe.  Every line debunks misconceptions about Jesus, God, and the world.  The real Jesus would know the historical context behind this creed.

One SCJ instructor wrote back and said that the creed is false for two reasons.  First, it mentions Jesus being crucified under Pontius Pilate (when it was really the Jewish authorities).  Second, he also stated that the reference to the ¨catholic church¨ is misleading.  However, both points are easily understood within the historical context (5).  

To Christian thinkers, Shincheonji's remarks of the creed being ¨full of lies¨ are exaggerated and have the same tone found in other apocalyptic movements.  Contrary to what SCJ affirms, the creed is based on elementary ideas in the Christian faith (i.e. God made this universe; Jesus is God's Son, born of a real woman, died a real death in history, resurrected, and will come again to judge the living and the dead).

These points show that the spirit entities behind Manhee Lee are not accurate.  To thinking Christians, SCJ is misrepresenting or exaggerating these issues, signs that the real Jesus would not give.

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(1) ¨Mrs. Kim: Martyr of Shinchonji¨ Shinchonji Website Articles. Accessed June 3rd, 2010.http://han.shinchonji.kr/zh-hans/content/mrs-kim-martyr-shinchonji
(2) ¨Is Shinchonji Church of Jesus really a cult,¨ Website Articles. Accessed June 3rd, 2010.http://han.shinchonji.kr/nl/node/381
(3) ¨Eternal life in the spirit¨ Shinchonji Website Articles. Accessed July 15th, 2010.http://scjpeter.blogspot.com/2009/07/scj-eternal-life-in-spirit-and-in-flesh.html
(4) ¨Stop your evil deeds and repent¨ Audio File. Accessed July 15th, 2010.http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/jasminsh_scj/folder/11.html
(5) Christian leaders affirmed in the creed that Jesus truly died under the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate.  This was because the Gnostics denied that Jesus died.  Christian leaders were giving historical reasons to believe that he died.  Furthermore, Jn. 19:16 makes this same point about Pontius Pilate.  Lastly, about the catholic church, early Christians were referring to one body of Christ, the catholic/universal church of Christ, as opposed to the Gnostic churches.