Shincheonji’s denial of the supernatural is not a peripheral interpretive choice but a theological fault line that runs through their entire system. By redefining Revelation’s heavenly scenes as symbolic descriptions of internal church events, Shincheonji severs the book from the consistent pattern of divine action that runs through all of Scripture. The Bible does not present God as retreating from visible, sovereign action over time, only to reemerge through allegory and organizational fulfillment at the end of history. Instead, from the Old Testament through the New Testament and into Revelation, God reveals His will through both word and power—speaking, acting, judging, and saving in ways that transcend human control. Removing the supernatural from Revelation breaks this continuity and leaves the final book of Scripture operating by rules foreign to the rest of the biblical narrative.

Once the supernatural is stripped away, the theological consequences multiply. The Kingdom of God is reduced from the cosmic reign of Christ to the success of a human organization, resurrection is redefined as intellectual enlightenment rather than the defeat of death, and divine authority is relocated from God’s direct action to a human intermediary. In this framework, God no longer accomplishes His purposes by His own power but depends on a “promised pastor” to complete what Scripture presents as His sovereign work. The result is not a reinterpretation of Revelation but a collapse of biblical theology itself, where God’s historic pattern of revelation, judgment, and redemption is replaced with a system that centers human fulfillment in place of divine sovereignty.

Exodus 14 records one of the most decisive acts of divine deliverance in Scripture, the parting of the Red Sea. Israel’s escape from Egypt was not accomplished through strategy, persuasion, or gradual reform, but through an immediate and visible intervention by God. The waters were divided, Israel walked through on dry ground, and the pursuing Egyptian army was overwhelmed and destroyed. The text emphasizes the physical reality of the event, describing walls of water, dry land, and the total defeat of Pharaoh’s forces. This deliverance left no room for symbolic reinterpretation. God’s salvation was public, irreversible, and beyond human capability, establishing that redemption comes through divine power, not human mediation.

This event also sets an enduring biblical pattern. God’s promises are not merely spoken; they are enacted through unmistakable deeds that confirm His authority and faithfulness. Israel did not “understand” their way out of Egypt, nor was their deliverance fulfilled through internal spiritual change within Pharaoh’s system. God acted directly in creation, altering the natural order to accomplish His will. The Red Sea crossing therefore functions as a foundational example of how God reveals Himself through both word and power, a pattern that continues throughout Scripture and culminates in the final acts of redemption and judgment.

That same pattern is reinforced in Exodus 19, when God descends on Mount Sinai to establish His covenant with Israel. The scene is filled with visible and audible signs of divine presence. Thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, and an exceedingly loud trumpet blast accompany God’s descent. The trumpet here is not a metaphor for human proclamation or teaching. It is a supernatural sound announcing God’s presence and authority. This moment is crucial for understanding later prophetic imagery, including the trumpets in Joshua 6 and Revelation. From the beginning, the trumpet is associated with God’s direct action, His manifestation in power, and His intervention in history. Scripture consistently presents the trumpet as heaven’s announcement of divine presence and judgment, not as a symbol for human messengers or organizational fulfillment.

The miracles of Jesus are presented in the Gospels as deliberate acts of divine authority, not as illustrative metaphors attached to His teaching. Jesus does not merely describe what the kingdom of God is like; He demonstrates what it does. In Mark 4:39, He rebukes the wind and commands the sea to be still, and creation obeys Him immediately. The disciples’ reaction is telling: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The miracle forces the question of identity. Authority over nature is not treated as symbolic instruction but as evidence that God’s sovereign power is present and active in Jesus.

This authority extends beyond land to sea and beyond human limitation. In Matthew 14:25, Jesus walks on the water in the fourth watch of the night, approaching His disciples in the midst of the storm. In the Old Testament, walking on the sea is consistently attributed to God alone. By doing so openly and physically, Jesus reveals continuity with the divine acts of Yahweh rather than offering a new interpretive framework. Later in the same chapter, Matthew 14:19 records Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish, feeding thousands from a small offering. This act echoes God’s provision in the wilderness and again demonstrates creative power over material reality. Food is produced, hunger is satisfied, and abundance remains. Nothing in the narrative invites a symbolic reading. The crowd eats, and they are filled.

Jesus’ miracles also display authority over the human body and the spiritual realm. Throughout the Gospels, He opens blind eyes, restores the paralyzed, cleanses lepers, and casts out demons by command rather than ritual. These acts are presented as signs that confirm the nearness of God’s kingdom and the truth of Jesus’ message. Healing is not portrayed as internal enlightenment or psychological restoration, but as physical transformation visible to witnesses. Demons recognize His authority immediately, reinforcing that His power is not derived from human learning or institutional status but from divine identity. Each miracle confronts the brokenness of creation and reverses it in real time.

The raising of Lazarus in John 11:43–44 stands as the clearest demonstration that Jesus’ authority extends even over death itself. Standing before the tomb, Jesus does not reinterpret death or offer symbolic consolation. He calls Lazarus by name, and a man who had been dead four days comes out, bound in grave clothes. This miracle is presented as a public, undeniable act that accelerates opposition against Jesus precisely because it cannot be dismissed. Together, these miracles establish a consistent theological claim: the kingdom of heaven is not symbolic, internal, or organizational. It is the active reign of God breaking into history. Jesus’ works fulfill what the Old Testament anticipated, God dwelling among His people and revealing His power through visible, divine action that no human authority can replicate.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the ultimate miracle in Scripture, the decisive act by which God publicly vindicated His Son and confirmed the truth of the Gospel. As Paul states in Romans 1:4, Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” This declaration was not made through teaching alone, but through an event that overturned the finality of death itself. The Gospels present the resurrection as bodily and historical: the tomb is empty (Matt 28:6; John 20:1–9), Jesus invites His disciples to touch Him and see His wounds (Luke 24:39–40), and He eats with them to demonstrate that He is not a spirit or apparition (Luke 24:42–43). These details are emphasized precisely to exclude symbolic or purely spiritual interpretations. The resurrection is presented as God acting in history, raising Jesus physically and gloriously from the grave.

The apostolic witness treats this event as the non-negotiable foundation of the Christian faith. Paul insists in 1 Corinthians 15:14–17 that if Christ has not been raised, preaching is futile and faith is empty, believers remain in their sins, and Christian hope collapses entirely. The resurrection is therefore not a metaphor for enlightenment or a subjective experience of truth, but the objective defeat of death and the guarantee of future resurrection for all who belong to Christ (1 Cor 15:20–23; Acts 17:31). God’s redemptive plan culminates not in improved understanding or organizational fulfillment, but in the transformation of mortal bodies and the renewal of creation itself (Phil 3:20–21; Rom 8:11). To deny the supernatural nature of the resurrection is to dismantle the very core of Christianity, for without a risen Christ, there is no Gospel, no salvation, and no hope.

The events of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 present yet another unmistakable instance of God acting visibly and supernaturally in history. Luke describes a sound “like a mighty rushing wind” filling the entire house where the disciples were gathered (Acts 2:2), signaling divine presence in a way that recalls earlier theophanies such as Sinai (Exod 19:16–19). Tongues “as of fire” appear and rest on each believer (Acts 2:3), echoing God’s manifest presence in fire throughout the Old Testament and confirming that what is taking place is initiated by God, not produced by human effort. These signs are not internal or symbolic experiences but external, observable phenomena witnessed by many.

The miracle continues as the disciples begin speaking in other languages “as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Jews from every nation hear the apostles declaring “the mighty works of God” in their own native tongues (Acts 2:6–11), eliminating any claim that the event was subjective, psychological, or symbolic. Peter explicitly identifies this outpouring as the fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32, where God promises to pour out His Spirit visibly and powerfully in the last days. The Spirit’s descent empowers the church to testify with divine authority, not through secret knowledge or reinterpretation, but through public proclamation accompanied by supernatural confirmation. Jesus had promised this moment, telling His disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8; John 14:16–17; John 16:7).

This raises a critical theological distinction. The Advocate, or Helper, promised by Jesus is not described as a human intermediary or merely an angelic influence working through flesh. Jesus identifies the Spirit as coming directly from the Father and Himself, dwelling in believers and glorifying Christ (John 15:26; John 16:13–14). At Pentecost, God does not delegate His presence through a single messenger but descends to indwell His people collectively. The result is not dependence on a particular individual to mediate divine revelation, but the empowerment of the church by God Himself. Acts 2 therefore reinforces the consistent biblical pattern: when God inaugurates a new phase of redemptive history, He does so through visible, audible, supernatural action that confirms His word and establishes His authority without reliance on human proxies.

Why SCJ’s Denial of the Supernatural Collapses Their Theology

Shincheonji’s denial of the supernatural does not merely adjust how Revelation is read. It fundamentally breaks the continuity of God’s revelation across Scripture. From Genesis onward, God reveals Himself through direct action in creation, history, and judgment. He speaks, and He acts. To claim that Revelation abandons this pattern and functions only through allegory or symbolic reinterpretation implies that God suddenly ceases to act openly at the climax of redemptive history. This creates a theological discontinuity where the final book of Scripture operates by rules that contradict everything that precedes it.

Once the supernatural is removed, the Kingdom of God is inevitably reduced. Rather than being the universal, cosmic reign of Christ over heaven and earth, the kingdom becomes identified with a specific human organization. What Scripture presents as Christ receiving everlasting dominion is redefined as the success, structure, or authority of a religious movement. In this framework, God’s reign is no longer something He establishes by His own power, but something that must be recognized, interpreted, and administered through human leadership. The focus shifts away from Christ’s victory and toward institutional validation.

This denial of the supernatural also undermines the resurrection itself. If Revelation’s judgments, trumpets, and final victory are not real acts of divine intervention, then the final resurrection and judgment lose their meaning as well. Scripture consistently ties the resurrection to God’s direct action over death, not to symbolic understanding or spiritual awareness. Removing that power makes God dependent on man, requiring a “promised pastor” to complete what Scripture presents as God’s finished and sovereign work. In the end, this theology does not elevate God’s plan. It replaces God’s power with human mediation and collapses the biblical witness to redemption, judgment, and hope.