A Refutation of Shincheonji’s Introductory Level Test (Lesson 57)

Using “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story”

Introduction: The Gateway Test

Mark sat at the small desk in the center classroom, his hand cramping as he copied down the 75th question. For three hours, she had been writing furiously, transcribing every question and answer from the board into his notebook. The instructor had been clear: to advance to the Intermediate Level, he needed to score 90% or higher on this test. No handouts would be provided. Everything had to be memorized, internalized, written down by hand.

“This is how you truly learn,” the instructor had said with a warm smile. “When you write it with your own hand, it enters your heart.”

What Mark didn’t realize was that this wasn’t just a test of biblical knowledge. This was the first major checkpoint in a carefully designed system of indoctrination—a system that would gradually reshape how he read the Bible, understood Christianity, and viewed the world. By the time he finished copying these 75 questions and their answers, he would have written SCJ’s theological framework into his own notebook, in his own handwriting, creating a sense of ownership and investment in teachings that subtly deviate from historic Christian faith.

This refutation will examine the Introductory Level Test (Lesson 57) through the lenses presented in “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story”—the historical lens (how first-century Christians would have understood these concepts) and the literary lens (how the biblical texts function in their original context). We will not focus on debates between Premillennialism, Amillennialism, or Postmillennialism, but rather on what the Bible actually says when read in its historical and literary context, free from SCJ’s interpretive framework.

For additional resources and detailed refutations of SCJ teachings, visit the SCJ Examination at closerlookinitiative.com: https://closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination

Part 1: The Foundation—Questions 1-3

Establishing the Framework

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 1.1-1.3 appear straightforward and biblically sound on the surface:

• 1.1: “Who created heaven, earth, and all creation?” Answer: “God”
• 1.2: “What kind of entity is the Creator?” Answer: “He is who He is, That is, self-existent”
• 1.3: “What kind of entity is the devil?” Answer: “A created being, a fallen angel”

The instructor’s commentary on question 1.3 emphasizes an important distinction: “Did God create Satan? No, God did not create Satan. What did God create? God created an angel.” This distinction—that God created an angel who became Satan through pride and greed—is theologically sound and reflects orthodox Christian teaching.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements: These opening questions align with historic Christian orthodoxy. The doctrine of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing), God’s self-existence (aseity), and Satan’s origin as a fallen angel are all consistent with Scripture and church teaching throughout history:

• God as Creator: Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-4, Hebrews 3:4 all affirm God as the sole Creator
• God’s Self-Existence: Exodus 3:14 (“I AM WHO I AM”) establishes God’s eternal, self-existent nature
• Satan as Fallen Angel: Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 describe the fall of a high-ranking angelic being

The Subtle SCJ Framework Being Established:

While these answers are biblically accurate, they serve a strategic purpose in SCJ’s system. As explained in Chapter 3 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story,” SCJ begins with orthodox statements to establish credibility and trust. Students think, “This is just good Bible teaching—nothing controversial here.”

However, notice what’s being set up:

1. A binary worldview: God vs. Satan, with no middle ground
2. The emphasis on pride and greed as Satan’s downfall: This will later be used to characterize anyone who questions SCJ’s authority
3. The pattern of creation-fall-judgment: This pattern will be repeatedly applied to SCJ’s organizational narrative

The instructor’s commentary reveals the beginning of SCJ’s interpretive method: “Pride and greed brought Satan down. For pride goes before the fall. So this is the reason why God detests these things. God does not like pride and greed because it reminds him of Satan.”

This creates a psychological framework where questioning leadership or desiring anything beyond what SCJ offers can be labeled as “pride” or “greed”—the very characteristics of Satan. This is a classic high-control group tactic: establishing biblical principles that will later be weaponized against dissent.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood Satan’s origin, they drew from Jewish apocalyptic literature and Jesus’ own teachings. Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This was understood as a past event—Satan’s rebellion occurred before human history began.

First-century believers understood spiritual warfare as real but not as the primary lens through which to interpret every biblical text. As explained in “Early Christian Revelation Understanding,” the early church focused on Christ’s victory over Satan through the cross (Colossians 2:15) rather than on elaborate schemes to identify Satan’s current earthly manifestations.

The danger in SCJ’s approach is that while the theology is initially orthodox, it’s being used to create a framework where students will later be taught to identify specific organizations, denominations, and individuals as “Satan’s kingdom” or “Babylon”—a move that goes far beyond what Scripture actually teaches.

Part 2: The Purpose of Religion—Questions 2.1-2.6

Redefining Biblical Authority

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 2.1-2.6 address the nature and purpose of religion, the authorship of the Bible, and its composition:

• 2.1: “Who gave us true religion?” Answer: “God”
• 2.2: “To whom was true religion given?” Answer: “To sinners”
• 2.3: “Why was it given?” Answer: “To make known God, who is life, and the devil, who is death”
• 2.4: “Who is the author of the Bible? How many people did the author use?” Answer: “God, about 35 people”
• 2.5-2.6: Statistics about the Old and New Testament books, chapters, and verses

The instructor’s commentary on “religion” provides an etymological explanation: “Religion, at its core, means to realign or reconnect or rebind. The ‘re’ prefix is crucial here, as it suggests there was a separation that needs to be addressed.”

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The concept that God is the author of Scripture is orthodox Christian teaching, supported by passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (“All Scripture is God-breathed”) and 2 Peter 1:20-21 (“prophecy never had its origin in the will of a man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”).

The instructor correctly emphasizes that the Bible’s consistency across multiple human authors over thousands of years points to divine authorship: “How is it possible for the Bible, which was recorded by approximately 35 to 40 people, to be so accurately consistent with one another? How could this be possible? There is only one author.”

The Subtle SCJ Framework Being Established:

However, notice the shift that’s occurring in question 2.3. The purpose of religion is defined as “To make known God, who is life, and the devil, who is death.” While this contains truth, it’s incomplete. The biblical purpose of God’s revelation is multifaceted:

• To reveal God’s character and glory (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:19-20)
• To reveal humanity’s sin and need for redemption (Romans 3:23)
• To reveal God’s plan of salvation through Christ (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:9-10)
• To equip believers for good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• To provide hope and encouragement (Romans 15:4)

By reducing the Bible’s purpose primarily to “making known God and the devil,” SCJ is subtly preparing students for their later teaching that the primary purpose of Scripture is to identify who represents God and who represents Satan in current events—specifically, in SCJ’s organizational narrative.

The instructor’s commentary reveals this trajectory: “Satan is much less effective when he is exposed. So what Jesus did, for example, in Matthew 23, was he exposed where Satan was working… So where is Satan working today? His dwelling place is Babylon. So our prerogative, our imperative is to locate Babylon.”

This sets up the central task of SCJ’s system: identifying “Babylon” in the present day. As students will later learn, SCJ teaches that “Babylon” is mainstream Christianity, and only Shincheonji represents true faith. This is a massive departure from historic Christian interpretation.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians received and read Scripture, they understood it primarily as God’s revelation of His redemptive plan through Jesus Christ. As explained in “How First-Century Christians Read Revelation Like a Political Cartoon,” early believers read biblical texts—including apocalyptic literature—in light of their immediate historical context while also seeing them as part of God’s larger story of redemption.

The early church fathers emphasized Scripture’s role in revealing Christ. Irenaeus (c. 130-202 AD) wrote: “The Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit.” Augustine (354-430 AD) famously said: “The New Testament is in the Old concealed; the Old Testament is in the New revealed.”

Notice the focus: Scripture reveals Christ and God’s redemptive plan. It is not primarily a code book for identifying contemporary organizations as fulfillments of prophecy.

The concept of “religion” (Latin: religio) in early Christianity was understood as the true worship of the one true God through Jesus Christ, in contrast to pagan religions. The early church did not use “religion” as SCJ does—as a system for “reconnecting” with God primarily through correct prophetic interpretation.

The Indoctrination Mechanism at Work

Chapter 5 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” explains how SCJ uses “incremental deviation”—starting with orthodox teaching and gradually introducing distinctive (and ultimately heretical) interpretations. By question 2.3, we see the first subtle shift: the Bible’s purpose is being narrowed to focus on identifying God’s representatives versus Satan’s representatives.

This creates what psychologists call a “schema”—a mental framework through which all subsequent information will be filtered. Students are being trained to read the Bible not primarily to know God and His salvation through Christ, but to identify who represents God and who represents Satan in current events.

This is the seed of SCJ’s later teaching that they alone represent God’s kingdom, and all other Christianity represents Babylon/Satan’s kingdom. But at this stage, students don’t see where this is heading. They’re just learning “Bible basics.”

Part 3: The Seven Pastors and Seven Periods—Questions 3.1-3.2

Introducing SCJ’s Unique Historical Framework

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 3.1-3.2 introduce what will become central to SCJ’s entire theological system:

• 3.1: “Give seven pastors whom God appointed from Adam’s time to the time of Revelation in order.”
  • Answer: “Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jesus, the one who overcomes (New John)“
• 3.2: “Categorize biblical history into seven periods in sequential order”
  • Answer: “Period of Genesis → Period of Exodus and the Law → Period of the judges → Period of the kings → Period of the prophets → Period of the gospel of heaven → Period of re-creation and revelation“

This is where SCJ’s teaching begins to deviate significantly from historic Christianity. Let’s examine this carefully.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The Bible does present key figures whom God used in redemptive history: Adam (the first human), Noah (through whom humanity was preserved), Abraham (father of faith and the covenant people), Moses (lawgiver and deliverer), Joshua (who led Israel into the Promised Land), and supremely, Jesus Christ (the Messiah and Savior).

The Bible also shows different periods or “dispensations” in God’s dealing with humanity, though theologians debate the exact divisions and their significance.

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, notice what SCJ has done:

1. Added “the one who overcomes (New John)” as the seventh and final pastor

This is not a biblical category but an SCJ invention. While Revelation does speak of “the one who overcomes” (Revelation 2-3, 21:7), this is never presented as a specific individual who ranks alongside Jesus as the seventh in a series of appointed pastors.

In fact, “the one who overcomes” in Revelation refers to all faithful believers who persevere in faith. Revelation 2:7 says, “To the one who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life.” This is a promise to all believers, not the identification of a specific individual.

SCJ interprets “the one who overcomes” as referring to their founder, Lee Man-hee, claiming he is the promised pastor who fulfills New Testament prophecy. This is a massive theological leap that has no biblical support.

2. Created a pattern of seven that culminates in SCJ’s era

By creating this seven-fold pattern, SCJ implies that biblical history has been building toward the current “Period of re-creation and revelation”—which they identify as the era of Shincheonji’s founding and growth.

This is what Chapter 8 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “prophetic inevitability”—creating a historical framework that makes SCJ’s existence seem like the inevitable fulfillment of God’s plan.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood redemptive history, they saw it culminating in Jesus Christ—not in a future figure who would come 2,000 years later.

The book of Hebrews makes this abundantly clear:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Notice: God’s final and complete revelation is in His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no indication of another figure who would come later to complete what Jesus left unfinished.

Jesus Himself declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30) on the cross, indicating the completion of His redemptive work. The apostles proclaimed that Jesus is “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13).

As explained in “Early Christian Revelation Understanding,” first-century believers understood that they were living in “the last days” inaugurated by Christ’s first coming (Hebrews 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 John 2:18). They awaited Christ’s return, not the coming of another human figure who would rank alongside Christ as the final pastor.

The Dangerous Implication

By placing “the one who overcomes (New John)” as the seventh pastor alongside Jesus, SCJ is creating a framework where their leader becomes functionally equal to—or even surpassing—Jesus in importance for salvation.

This becomes clearer in the instructor’s commentary on question 3.1, which discusses Revelation 10:8-11, where John is told to “eat” the scroll and “prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

The instructor explains: “Although John did not have the chance to do this after his exile on Patmos, as he died shortly after recording Revelation, the words of Revelation have been spread throughout the world for 2,000 years so that people can recognize the prophecies when they start to unfold.”

Then comes the critical move: “The person with this responsibility has a significant task because they must testify to a world that was not expecting those things… The open word is not a guess or an interpretation; it is a testimony about what has taken place and what has been fulfilled.”

SCJ teaches that Lee Man-hee is this “New John” who has eaten the scroll and now testifies about Revelation’s fulfillment. This makes him the essential figure for understanding God’s current work—effectively placing him in the mediatorial role that belongs to Christ alone.

Paul warns against this in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

Establishing SCJ’s Prophetic Framework

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 4.1-4.6 introduce what becomes the cornerstone of SCJ’s entire theological system: the pattern of promise and fulfillment. This section establishes that God always works by making a promise to one person, then coming to a different person later to fulfill that promise:

• 4.1: At the time of Exodus, “God came to Moses to fulfill the promise he made to Abraham”
• 4.2: At the time of Jesus’ first coming, “God came to Jesus to fulfill the promise he made through the Old Testament prophets”
• 4.3: The promised pastor who fulfills New Testament prophecies is “The one who overcomes, New John (Rv 21:6-7)”
• 4.4-4.6: These correspond to three time periods:
  • Time of Moses = “The period of the law” (John 1:17)
  • Time of Jesus’ first coming = “The period of faith in the gospel” (Mt 24:14, John 1:12)
  • Time of Jesus’ second coming = “The period of the completion of heaven” (Rv 21:6)

The instructor’s commentary emphasizes: “This is how God works. Promise first in prophecy and then fulfill in actual reality. Prophecy and fulfillment. It’s God’s trademark.”

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The pattern of promise and fulfillment is indeed biblical. God made promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21) that were fulfilled through Moses and the Exodus. God made promises through the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2; etc.) that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The instructor correctly notes that prophecy and fulfillment demonstrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. Romans 15:8 says, “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed.”

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes this biblical pattern and extends it in a way that Scripture never does. Notice the progression:

1. Abraham → Moses (Biblical and accurate)
2. Old Testament Prophets → Jesus (Biblical and accurate)
3. Jesus/New Testament → “The one who overcomes, New John” (NOT biblical)

This third application is where SCJ deviates from Scripture. While the first two examples are clearly taught in the Bible, the third is an SCJ invention that has no biblical warrant.

The instructor’s commentary on question 4.3 reveals the full implication: “The person who saw the vision is not the person who carries out the contents of that vision. It is for a future time.”

This creates a framework where:

• John saw the vision of Revelation but didn’t fulfill it
• Someone else (Lee Man-hee, according to SCJ) must come later to fulfill what John saw
• This person becomes the “promised pastor” who is essential for salvation

This is what Chapter 12 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” identifies as “prophetic personalization”—taking universal biblical promises and applying them to a specific individual in SCJ’s organization.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood the pattern of promise and fulfillment, they saw it culminating definitively in Jesus Christ, not pointing forward to another human figure.

The Finality of Christ’s Revelation:

The New Testament consistently presents Jesus as the final and complete revelation of God:

• Hebrews 1:1-2: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
• John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
• Colossians 2:9-10: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness”

Notice the language: “in these last days,” “grace and truth came,” “you have been brought to fullness.” This is completion language, not anticipation of another figure to come.

The Role of the Apostles:

First-century Christians understood that the apostles (including John) were Christ’s authorized witnesses who testified to what they had seen and heard (1 John 1:1-3). The book of Revelation was John’s testimony about what Christ revealed to him concerning the spiritual realities of the church age and the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom.

As explained in “The Revelation Project – Day 1-6,” first-century believers would have understood Revelation as addressing their immediate situation (persecution under Rome) while also pointing to ultimate realities (Christ’s final victory). They would not have understood it as a sealed prophecy awaiting fulfillment 2,000 years later through a Korean pastor.

The Dangerous Question: “Who is the prophet talking about?”

The instructor’s commentary on question 4.3 references Acts 8:26-35, where the Ethiopian eunuch asks Philip about Isaiah 53: “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Philip’s answer is crucial: “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

The instructor uses this passage to establish the principle that prophets speak about someone else who comes later to fulfill the prophecy. This is true for Old Testament prophecies about Christ. But then the instructor makes an illegitimate leap:

“The answer is that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and Amos were all pointing to Jesus… When we look at the events in Revelation, even though John uses words like ‘I saw,’ ‘I heard,’ and ‘it was shown to me,’ those things were taking place in a vision… This means that later on, someone must come and live out those events, not in a vision, but in reality.”

This is a false parallel. Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah who was to come. John testified about what Christ revealed to him concerning spiritual realities and the church’s experience. These are not the same type of literature.

Isaiah’s prophecies were predictive—looking forward to Christ’s coming. John’s Revelation is apocalyptic testimony—unveiling spiritual realities already at work and pointing to Christ’s ultimate victory. To treat them as the same type of literature requiring the same interpretive method is a fundamental error.

The Subtle Shift in Authority

Notice what’s happening in SCJ’s framework:

• Stage 1: God made promises to Abraham → fulfilled through Moses
• Stage 2: God made promises through OT prophets → fulfilled through Jesus
• Stage 3: God made promises through Jesus/NT → fulfilled through “the one who overcomes”

This creates a pattern where each fulfillment requires a new mediator. But this contradicts the New Testament’s teaching about Christ’s unique and final mediatorial role.

Hebrews 9:15 declares: “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Christ is the mediator of the NEW covenant—the final covenant. There is no third covenant requiring a third mediator. Yet SCJ’s framework implicitly creates exactly that: a new era requiring a new mediator (Lee Man-hee) to explain what Christ left unclear.

This is what Chapter 15 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “Christological displacement”—gradually shifting the focus from Christ to another figure who becomes functionally necessary for salvation.

The Three Time Periods: A Closer Look

Questions 4.4-4.6 divide history into three periods:

1. Period of the law (Moses)
2. Period of faith in the gospel (Jesus’ first coming)
3. Period of the completion of heaven (Jesus’ second coming)

What’s Biblical:

The distinction between the law and grace is biblical (John 1:17; Romans 6:14). The current church age is indeed characterized by faith in the gospel (Romans 1:16-17). And Scripture does promise a future completion when Christ returns and God’s kingdom is fully realized (Revelation 21-22).

What’s Uniquely SCJ:

However, SCJ interprets “the period of the completion of heaven” not as Christ’s future return, but as the current era of Shincheonji’s existence. The instructor’s commentary reveals this: “This is the period of the completion of heaven, meaning that the heaven we have been waiting for will be fully complete, and heaven will come down, rather than us going up.”

This language mirrors Revelation 21:2-3, which describes the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. But SCJ teaches this is being fulfilled NOW through their organization—that Shincheonji IS the New Jerusalem, the completed heaven on earth.

This is a radical reinterpretation of eschatology (the doctrine of last things). Historic Christianity has understood the New Jerusalem as the eternal state after Christ’s return and the final judgment. SCJ claims it’s a present reality in their organization.

As explained in “SCJ’s Fulfillment of Revelation Part 1,” this allows SCJ to claim that:

• Heaven is not a future hope but a present reality (in SCJ)
• Salvation is not through Christ alone but through joining SCJ
• The promises of Revelation are not about Christ’s return but about SCJ’s establishment

This is a different gospel entirely.

Part 5: The Preparers of the Way—Questions 5.1-5.5

Establishing the Pattern of Forerunners

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 5.1-5.5 introduce another pattern that SCJ will use to validate their organizational narrative: the pattern of forerunners who prepare the way for God’s chosen person:

• 5.1: Before Moses came Aaron (Ex 4:8-17)
• 5.2: Before Jesus came John the Baptist (Jn 5:35)
• 5.3: Before “the one who overcomes” came the Seven Stars (Rev 1:20)
• 5.4: Their role was “Preparing the way for the Lord”
• 5.5: A chart showing OT prophecies about Jesus and their NT fulfillment

The instructor’s commentary emphasizes that these forerunners were “lamps” that gave light in darkness, preparing people to receive the greater light that would come.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The pattern of forerunners is biblical:

1. Aaron and Moses: Exodus 4:14-16 shows that God appointed Aaron to speak for Moses because Moses felt inadequate: “He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.”
2. John the Baptist and Jesus: John clearly fulfilled the role of forerunner prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Jesus Himself said of John: “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). John testified: “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).

The instructor correctly identifies both Aaron and John the Baptist as “lamps” (Leviticus 24:1-4; John 5:35), emphasizing their role in preparing the way.

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, once again SCJ extends a biblical pattern beyond what Scripture warrants:

1. Aaron → Moses (Biblical)
2. John the Baptist → Jesus (Biblical)
3. Seven Stars → “The one who overcomes” (NOT biblical)

The “Seven Stars” in Revelation 1:20 are identified as “the angels of the seven churches.” In the biblical context, these represent the spiritual messengers or leaders of seven literal churches in Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea).

SCJ reinterprets the Seven Stars as seven specific pastors in their organizational history who prepared the way for Lee Man-hee. This is what Chapter 18 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “prophetic colonization”—taking biblical symbols and forcing them to fit SCJ’s narrative.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians read Revelation 1:20, they would have understood the “seven stars” and “seven lampstands” in their immediate historical context:

The Seven Churches:

Revelation 1:4 addresses “the seven churches in the province of Asia.” These were real, historical churches that existed in the first century. The letters to these churches (Revelation 2-3) address specific situations each church was facing:

• Ephesus had forsaken their first love (2:4)
• Smyrna faced persecution (2:9-10)
• Pergamum tolerated false teaching (2:14-15)
• Thyatira allowed a false prophetess (2:20)
• Sardis had a reputation for being alive but was dead (3:1)
• Philadelphia had little strength but kept God’s word (3:8)
• Laodicea was lukewarm (3:15-16)

These were not prophecies about pastors who would appear in Korea in the 1970s-1980s. They were messages to real churches facing real challenges in the first century.

The Symbolic Nature of “Seven”:

The number seven in Revelation represents completeness or fullness. The seven churches represent the complete church—all churches in all times and places. As explained in “How First-Century Christians Read Revelation Like a Political Cartoon,” first-century readers would have understood that while these letters addressed specific churches, they also spoke to the universal church’s experience.

The “angels” (Greek: angeloi, which can mean “messengers”) of the seven churches likely refer to the human leaders/pastors of these churches, or possibly to angelic beings assigned to watch over them. Either way, they are not prophecies about future individuals in a Korean organization.

The Role of John the Baptist:

The instructor’s use of John the Baptist as a pattern is particularly important to examine. John’s role was unique and unrepeatable. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets, the one who bridged the old covenant and the new, preparing the way for the Messiah.

Jesus said of John: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11:13-14).

Notice: “All the Prophets and the Law prophesied UNTIL John.” John was the culmination of the prophetic line, not the beginning of a new pattern that would repeat at Christ’s second coming.

Malachi 4:5-6 prophesied: “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents.”

Jesus identified John the Baptist as the fulfillment of this prophecy (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13). There is no biblical indication of another “Elijah” figure who would come before Christ’s second coming to prepare the way for another human leader.

The Dangerous Implication: Validating SCJ’s History

By establishing this pattern of forerunners, SCJ creates a framework where their organizational history becomes validated as biblical prophecy:

The instructor’s commentary on question 5.3 reveals this: “The seven stars are to prepare the way for the fulfillment of Revelation. How can we know that the events of Revelation are being fulfilled? It is not by looking at the news, as that will only lead to more confusion. The sign that these events are taking place is when the specific prophecies and the testimony about them appear. The question we should be asking ourselves is: who are the seven stars? Have they appeared yet? Where did they appear, and what did they do?”

This creates an interpretive framework where students must:

1. Accept that the Seven Stars are real people in recent history
2. Search for these people in SCJ’s organizational narrative
3. Accept SCJ’s identification of these people as validation of their prophetic claims

As students progress through the curriculum, they will be taught that the Seven Stars were seven specific pastors associated with the “Tabernacle Temple” (a tent church in Korea in the late 1970s-early 1980s) who prepared the way for Lee Man-hee.

This is circular reasoning: SCJ interprets Revelation to predict their own history, then points to their history as proof that they fulfill Revelation. But if the interpretation is wrong from the start, the entire edifice collapses.

Question 5.5: The Chart of Prophecy and Fulfillment

Question 5.5 asks students to provide five OT prophecies about Jesus and their NT fulfillment:

What’s Biblical:

This chart is accurate. These are genuine OT prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ life and ministry. The instructor correctly notes: “Being the Messiah is not easy; it’s not as simple as claiming to be the Messiah. One had to fit all of these criteria for us to say, ‘Amen, this is the Messiah we’ve been waiting for.'”

The Subtle Setup:

However, this chart serves a strategic purpose in SCJ’s system. By showing how OT prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, SCJ establishes the principle that prophecies must be fulfilled in specific, identifiable ways.

Then SCJ applies this same principle to Revelation: just as we can point to specific fulfillments of OT prophecies in Jesus’ life, we should be able to point to specific fulfillments of Revelation’s prophecies in recent history—specifically, in SCJ’s history.

The instructor’s commentary reveals this: “When Jesus came and bore the cross, people were asking, ‘What’s the Messiah doing in Galilee? Isn’t he supposed to come from Bethlehem?’ This is because they didn’t understand the parable. The reason why the answer for question number nine is part of the answer is that people misunderstood the parable and could not identify the reality.”

This sets up a crucial SCJ teaching: just as people in Jesus’ day missed Him because they didn’t understand the parables, people today are missing SCJ’s fulfillment of Revelation because they don’t understand the parables.

This creates a psychological trap: if you don’t accept SCJ’s interpretation, you’re like the Pharisees who rejected Jesus. This is a powerful manipulation tactic that prevents critical thinking.

Part 6: The Four Categories of Scripture—Questions 6.1-6.3

Narrowing the Bible’s Purpose

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 6.1-6.3 introduce SCJ’s framework for understanding the Bible’s content:

• 6.1: The Bible contains four categories: “History, instructions, prophecies, and fulfillment”
• 6.2: Prophecies are divided into three categories: “Betrayal, destruction, and salvation” (2 Thes 2:1-3)
• 6.3: Prophecies must be made known “To the chosen people who will attain salvation”

This seems straightforward, but it represents a significant narrowing of the Bible’s purpose and content.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The Bible does contain history (the narratives of Genesis through Acts), instructions (the Law, wisdom literature, epistles), prophecies (the prophetic books, apocalyptic literature), and fulfillment (the Gospels showing how Jesus fulfilled OT prophecies).

The reference to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 is also biblical: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”

This passage does mention rebellion (betrayal), destruction, and implies salvation for those who remain faithful.

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes these biblical elements and creates a rigid, reductionistic framework that distorts the Bible’s actual content and purpose:

Problem 1: Oversimplification

The Bible contains far more than these four categories. It includes:

• Poetry and songs (Psalms, Song of Solomon)
• Wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job)
• Laments (Lamentations, many Psalms)
• Parables and teachings (Jesus’ sermons)
• Personal letters addressing specific situations (Paul’s epistles)
• Apocalyptic visions (Daniel, Revelation)
• Genealogies, laws, rituals, and more

By reducing the Bible to “history, instructions, prophecies, and fulfillment,” SCJ creates a framework where the Bible’s primary purpose is to predict and validate their organization’s existence.

Problem 2: The “Betrayal-Destruction-Salvation” Pattern

While 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 does mention rebellion and destruction, SCJ elevates this into THE pattern for understanding all prophecy. This becomes the lens through which they read every biblical text.

As students will learn in later lessons, SCJ applies this pattern specifically to their organizational narrative:

• Betrayal: The Tabernacle Temple was infiltrated and betrayed
• Destruction: The Tabernacle Temple was destroyed by “the beast”
• Salvation: Lee Man-hee overcame and established Shincheonji

This is what Chapter 22 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “narrative colonization”—forcing the entire Bible to fit SCJ’s organizational story.

Problem 3: Restricting Prophecy to “The Chosen People”

Question 6.3 states that prophecies must be made known “to the chosen people who will attain salvation.” The instructor’s commentary adds: “What are the qualities of a chosen person? A chosen person requires God’s covenant.”

This creates an exclusive framework where:

• Only “chosen people” need to know the prophecies
• “Chosen people” are those who have “God’s covenant”
• As students will later learn, only SCJ members have the true covenant

This contradicts the Bible’s teaching that God’s revelation is for all people. Acts 17:30 declares: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) commands: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

The gospel is for all people, not just an exclusive group who have special knowledge.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood Scripture, they saw it as God’s revelation of His character, His redemptive plan, and His will for human life. They did not reduce it to a code book for identifying contemporary fulfillments of prophecy.

The Purpose of Scripture:

Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Notice the purposes Paul lists:

• Teaching (doctrine)
• Rebuking (confronting sin)
• Correcting (restoring right paths)
• Training in righteousness (character formation)
• Equipping for good works (practical service)

None of these purposes are “identifying which organization fulfills prophecy.” The Bible’s purpose is to reveal God, confront sin, transform character, and equip believers for service.

The Pattern of Betrayal-Destruction-Salvation:

While this pattern does appear in biblical history (Israel’s repeated cycles of faithfulness-apostasy-judgment-restoration), it is not THE primary pattern for understanding all prophecy.

The primary pattern of Scripture is:

• Creation: God makes everything good
• Fall: Humanity rebels against God
• Redemption: God works through history to save His people
• Consummation: God will restore all things through Christ

This is the grand narrative of Scripture, often called the “metanarrative” or “redemptive history.” It centers on God’s work through Christ, not on identifying contemporary organizations.

As explained in “Betrayal, Destruction, Salvation – A Christian Response,” SCJ’s use of the betrayal-destruction-salvation pattern is a distortion that serves to validate their organizational narrative while missing the Bible’s actual message.

The Indoctrination Mechanism at Work

By question 6, students have now been given a complete interpretive framework:

1. The Bible’s purpose: To reveal God and Satan, and to identify their representatives (Q 2.3)
2. God’s pattern: Promise to one person, fulfill through another (Q 4.1-4.3)
3. The current era: The period of completion of heaven (Q 4.6)
4. The current pastor: The one who overcomes, New John (Q 4.3)
5. The forerunners: The Seven Stars who prepared the way (Q 5.3)
6. The prophetic pattern: Betrayal, destruction, salvation (Q 6.2)

Students don’t yet realize it, but they’ve been given all the pieces of SCJ’s interpretive system. In later lessons, these pieces will be assembled to show that:

• SCJ is the fulfillment of Revelation’s prophecies
• Lee Man-hee is the promised pastor
• All other Christianity is Babylon
• Salvation requires joining SCJ

But at this stage, it all seems like “just Bible study.” This is the insidious nature of gradual indoctrination—each step seems reasonable until you look back and realize how far you’ve traveled from biblical truth.

Creating a Dualistic Worldview

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 7-8 establish a stark binary worldview that will shape how students view themselves and others:

• 7.1: “How many kinds of gods (spirits) does the Bible mention? Into how many categories can the believers who belong to these gods be divided?”
  • Answer: “Since there are two types of gods, there are two types of believers” (Jn 10:34-35, Act 17:29, Mt 13, Mt 25, Mt 7:21-23)
• 7.2: “Give five Bible references that explain the differences between God’s offspring and ordinary people”
  • Answer: Psalms 82:6-7; John 10:34-35; Acts 17:29; Genesis 6:1-3; Galatians 4:29
• 8.1: “The Bible divides both the spiritual and physical worlds into two types of kingdoms. What are those two types?”
  • Answer: “God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom”
• 8.2: “Which two groups have been fighting all the battles throughout the 6,000 years of biblical history?”
  • Answer: “The spirits and flesh that belong to God have been fighting against the spirits and flesh that belong to Satan”

The instructor’s commentary emphasizes this dualism: “Essentially, there are two types of spirits – holy and evil. Correspondingly, there are two types of believers… The war always takes place on two fronts – the spiritual front and the physical front. This war has been waging for 6,000 years.”

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The Bible does present a spiritual conflict between God’s kingdom and the forces of evil:

• Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
• Matthew 12:30: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters”
• 1 John 5:19: “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one”

The Bible also distinguishes between those who belong to God and those who don’t:

• John 8:44: Jesus told the religious leaders, “You belong to your father, the devil”
• Romans 8:9: “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you”
• Galatians 4:29: “At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now”

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes these biblical truths and creates a rigid, oversimplified dualism that serves their organizational agenda. Notice what’s happening:

Problem 1: Eliminating Nuance and Complexity

The Bible’s teaching about spiritual warfare and belonging to God is far more nuanced than SCJ presents. Consider:

• Believers still struggle with sin: Romans 7:15-20 shows Paul’s own struggle: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do”
• Believers can be deceived: Galatians 3:1 asks, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” These were genuine believers who were being led astray
• There are degrees of spiritual maturity: 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 distinguishes between “spiritual” and “worldly” Christians, not between Christians and non-Christians
• God shows patience with those who struggle: 2 Peter 3:9 says God is “patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”

By creating a stark binary (God’s people vs. Satan’s people), SCJ eliminates the biblical reality that:

• Believers are in process of sanctification (Philippians 1:6)
• Believers can have mixed motives (James 4:8)
• God works with people where they are (1 Corinthians 3:2)

Problem 2: Setting Up “Us vs. Them” Mentality

The instructor’s commentary reveals how this dualism will be applied: “How does Matthew 13 describe these two types of believers? The Pharisees and Sadducees represent one type, while the disciples represent the other.”

This creates a framework where:

• There are “true believers” (like the disciples)
• There are “false believers” (like the Pharisees)
• You must determine which category you’re in

As students progress through SCJ’s curriculum, they will be taught that:

• SCJ members are the “true believers” (the disciples)
• All other Christians are “false believers” (the Pharisees)
• You must leave “Babylon” (mainstream Christianity) to join the true believers

This is what Chapter 11 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “binary reductionism”—reducing complex spiritual realities to simple either/or categories that serve the group’s agenda.

Problem 3: Misusing “Sons of God” Language

Question 7.2 asks for references about “God’s offspring and ordinary people,” citing passages like Psalm 82:6-7, John 10:34-35, and Acts 17:29.

Let’s examine these passages in context:

Psalm 82:6-7: “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”

This passage is addressing unjust judges in Israel who were supposed to represent God’s justice but were failing. The term “gods” (Hebrew: elohim) is used ironically—they have divine authority but are acting like mere mortals. The passage is a rebuke, not a promise.

John 10:34-35: Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6 to defend His claim to be the Son of God. His argument is: “If Scripture called those human judges ‘gods’ because they received God’s word, how much more can I call myself God’s Son, since the Father set me apart and sent me into the world?”

Jesus is not teaching that there are two categories of humans (gods and ordinary people). He’s making a qal wahomer argument (from lesser to greater): if even corrupt human judges could be called “gods” in a limited sense, surely He—the one sent by the Father—can claim to be God’s Son.

Acts 17:29: “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.”

Paul is speaking to Athenian philosophers, quoting their own poets (Epimenides and Aratus) to establish common ground. He’s saying that since even pagan poets recognize humans as God’s offspring (meaning created by God), they should recognize that God cannot be represented by idols.

Paul is not establishing two categories of humans (God’s offspring vs. ordinary people). He’s establishing that all humans are created by God and therefore should worship the true God, not idols.

The SCJ Distortion:

SCJ uses these passages to create a doctrine of two types of humans:

1. “God’s offspring” (those born of God’s seed/word)
2. “Ordinary people” (those born only physically)

This sets up their later teaching that only those who receive SCJ’s “revealed word” become God’s true offspring. Everyone else remains “ordinary people” or “mere flesh.”

This contradicts the biblical teaching that all humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and that believers become God’s children through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13), not through joining a specific organization.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood spiritual warfare and belonging to God, they had a much more nuanced and Christ-centered perspective than SCJ presents.

The Nature of Spiritual Warfare:

First-century believers understood spiritual warfare primarily in terms of:

1. Christ’s Victory Over Satan: Colossians 2:15 declares, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The decisive battle was already won at the cross.
2. Resisting Temptation and Deception: James 4:7 instructs, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Spiritual warfare involves personal holiness and resisting temptation.
3. Proclaiming the Gospel: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 describes spiritual warfare as “demolishing arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” This is about proclaiming truth, not identifying enemy organizations.
4. Enduring Persecution: Revelation itself addresses churches facing persecution from Rome. The spiritual warfare was about remaining faithful under pressure, not about identifying which contemporary organization represents Satan.

As explained in “Early Christian Revelation Understanding,” first-century Christians did not read Revelation as a code book for identifying Satan’s earthly representatives in future organizations. They understood it as encouragement to remain faithful to Christ despite opposition.

The Question of Belonging:

First-century Christians understood that belonging to God was determined by:

1. Faith in Jesus Christ: John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
2. The Indwelling Holy Spirit: Romans 8:9 states, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”
3. Love for God and Others: 1 John 4:7-8 declares, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
4. Perseverance in Faith: 1 John 2:19 explains, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”

Notice that belonging to God is determined by faith in Christ, the Spirit’s presence, love, and perseverance—not by membership in a specific organization or acceptance of a particular prophetic interpretation.

The Danger of Pharisaical Thinking:

The instructor’s commentary uses the Pharisees as an example of “false believers.” But this creates a dangerous irony: the Pharisees were known for their exclusivism, their belief that they alone had the truth, and their condemnation of others as “sinners” who didn’t meet their standards.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees not for being “false believers” in the sense of belonging to Satan’s kingdom, but for their:

• Hypocrisy: Matthew 23:27-28
• Legalism: Matthew 23:4
• Pride: Luke 18:9-14
• Exclusivism: Luke 15:1-2
• Missing the heart of the law: Matthew 23:23

When a religious group creates rigid categories of “true believers” (us) vs. “false believers” (everyone else), they risk becoming exactly what they condemn—modern-day Pharisees who believe they alone have the truth.

The Indoctrination Mechanism: Creating In-Group/Out-Group Dynamics

Questions 7-8 serve a crucial psychological function in SCJ’s indoctrination process. They create what social psychologists call “in-group/out-group dynamics”:

Stage 1: Establish Binary Categories

• There are two types of spirits (holy and evil)
• There are two types of believers (God’s and Satan’s)
• There are two kingdoms (God’s and Satan’s)

Stage 2: Create Identification Questions

• Which type of believer am I?
• Which kingdom do I belong to?
• How can I be sure I’m on God’s side?

Stage 3: Provide the Answer (in later lessons)

• True believers are in SCJ (the 12 tribes, the New Jerusalem)
• False believers are in Babylon (mainstream Christianity)
• To be sure you’re saved, you must join SCJ

This progression is psychologically powerful because it:

1. Creates anxiety (“Am I really saved?”)
2. Offers certainty (“Join us and you’ll know for sure”)
3. Isolates from others (“They’re in Babylon, we’re in the New Jerusalem”)

Chapter 16 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” explains how this binary thinking prevents critical evaluation: “Once students accept the binary framework, any criticism of SCJ can be dismissed as coming from ‘Satan’s kingdom’ or ‘Babylon.’ This makes it nearly impossible to evaluate SCJ’s claims objectively.”

The Biblical Alternative:

The Bible does distinguish between believers and unbelievers, but it does so in a way that:

1. Centers on Christ: John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” The distinction is belief in Christ, not membership in an organization.
2. Allows for Growth: Ephesians 4:15 calls believers to “grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” Believers are in process, not divided into perfect and imperfect categories.
3. Maintains Humility: 1 Corinthians 10:12 warns, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” Even believers must remain vigilant.
4. Focuses on Love: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 teaches that without love, even the greatest spiritual gifts and knowledge are worthless. Love, not correct interpretation, is the mark of true faith.

Part 8: The Conditions for Forgiveness—Question 9

Adding Requirements to Grace

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Question 9 asks: “Give the three conditions people must meet for their sins to be forgiven. Be sure to include references.”

The answer provides three conditions:

1. “We must drink the blood of Jesus” (Mt 26:28, Jn 6:53-57)
2. “We must understand the parables” (Mk 4:10-12)
3. “We must keep the new covenant” (Heb 8:10-12)

The instructor’s commentary expands on this significantly, emphasizing that “to believe in Jesus requires knowledge, faith, and action. The knowledge refers to understanding his prophecies and their fulfillment. These prophecies are often recorded in parables. If someone comprehends the parables of the Old Testament, they can then recognize that Jesus is the Messiah and believe in him.”

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The Bible does teach that:

1. Jesus’ blood is necessary for forgiveness: Matthew 26:28 says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Hebrews 9:22 states, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
2. Understanding is important: Mark 4:11-12 shows Jesus explaining that those who understand the parables receive the mystery of the kingdom, while those who don’t remain outside.
3. The new covenant brings forgiveness: Hebrews 8:12 promises, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes these biblical truths and distorts them in several critical ways:

Problem 1: Making Understanding a Condition for Salvation

By listing “we must understand the parables” as one of three conditions for forgiveness, SCJ makes correct interpretation a requirement for salvation. This is a fundamental departure from biblical Christianity.

The Bible teaches that salvation comes through faith in Christ, not through correct interpretation of parables:

• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
• Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
• John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Notice that none of these passages make “understanding parables” a condition for salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, not through correct biblical interpretation.

Problem 2: Redefining “Drinking Jesus’ Blood”

The instructor’s commentary reveals how SCJ reinterprets Jesus’ words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood:

“That kind of person, when they hear my flesh or eat my flesh and drink my blood, they’ll come into Jesus and ask, what do you mean by this? And then they’ll understand, oh, Jesus is saying, eat my words. Know my words.”

While it’s true that Jesus’ words in John 6 are metaphorical (He’s not advocating literal cannibalism), SCJ reduces “drinking Jesus’ blood” to “knowing His words” in a way that removes the focus from Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

When Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54), He was pointing to:

1. His Sacrificial Death: The language of eating flesh and drinking blood points to His coming death on the cross, where His body would be broken and His blood shed for sins.
2. Intimate Union with Christ: John 6:56 says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” This describes the intimate spiritual union believers have with Christ through faith.
3. Dependence on Christ for Life: John 6:57 says, “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” Believers depend on Christ for spiritual life just as we depend on food for physical life.

SCJ’s reduction of this rich imagery to “know my words” misses the point. It shifts the focus from Christ’s atoning work to intellectual knowledge of His teachings.

Problem 3: Making “Keeping the New Covenant” a Condition

By listing “we must keep the new covenant” as a condition for forgiveness, SCJ creates a works-based salvation system.

The biblical teaching about the new covenant is that:

1. God Establishes It: Hebrews 8:10 says, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” God is the one who establishes and maintains the covenant.
2. It’s Based on Christ’s Work: Hebrews 9:15 explains, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
3. It Produces Obedience, Not Requires It: The new covenant promises that God will write His laws on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10), enabling obedience. Obedience is the fruit of the new covenant, not the condition for entering it.

By making “keeping the new covenant” a condition for forgiveness, SCJ reverses the biblical order:

• Biblical: God forgives → writes His law on our hearts → we obey
• SCJ: We keep the covenant → God forgives

This is a return to law-based religion that Paul strongly opposed in Galatians: “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood salvation and forgiveness, they had a radically grace-centered perspective that differed significantly from SCJ’s teaching.

The Simplicity of the Gospel:

The early Christian message was remarkably simple: repent and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

• Acts 2:38: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”
• Acts 16:30-31: “He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.'”
• Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Notice the simplicity: repent, believe, call on the Lord. There’s no requirement to understand complex parables or pass tests on biblical interpretation.

The Role of Understanding:

First-century Christians did value understanding Scripture, but they understood it as:

1. A Result of Salvation, Not a Condition: 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned spiritually.” Understanding comes after receiving the Spirit through faith, not before.
2. A Process of Growth: 1 Peter 2:2 instructs believers, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” Growth in understanding is expected after salvation, not required for it.
3. Not Uniform Among Believers: 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 shows that believers can be at different levels of maturity: “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.”

The Danger of Adding Conditions:

The early church faced constant pressure to add requirements to the simple gospel of grace. Paul’s letter to the Galatians addresses this directly:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:6-8)

The Judaizers were adding the requirement of circumcision and law-keeping to faith in Christ. Paul calls this “a different gospel” and pronounces a curse on those who preach it.

SCJ is doing something similar: adding the requirements of “understanding parables” and “keeping the new covenant” (which they define as accepting their interpretation of Revelation) to faith in Christ. This is a different gospel.

The Instructor’s Commentary: Revealing the Agenda

The instructor’s extended commentary on question 9 reveals where this teaching is heading:

“The new covenant, which is actually the book of Revelation, it actually hasn’t really been possible to keep the new covenant until now, until the things started to happen. And as things start to happen, the new covenant becomes revealed fully.”

This is a stunning claim: the new covenant couldn’t be kept until Revelation’s prophecies started being fulfilled (which SCJ claims happened in the 1980s in Korea). This means:

• No one could fully keep the new covenant before SCJ
• The apostles couldn’t keep it
• The early martyrs couldn’t keep it
• Christians throughout 2,000 years of history couldn’t keep it
• Only SCJ members today can keep it

This is both historically absurd and theologically heretical. The new covenant was established by Christ’s death and resurrection (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). The apostles and early Christians lived under and celebrated the new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:6-13).

The instructor continues: “So God and Jesus are going to say, are you keeping the new covenant? Are you following my words? Are you believing in the words that I spoke about my coming? If you don’t believe in my second coming, do you really believe in me, honestly?”

Notice the shift: believing in Jesus’ second coming (a biblical doctrine) is being equated with accepting SCJ’s specific interpretation of how and when it’s being fulfilled. If you don’t accept SCJ’s interpretation, you don’t really believe in Jesus.

This is classic high-control group manipulation: taking a biblical truth (Jesus will return) and making acceptance of the group’s specific interpretation the test of true faith.

Part 9: The Meaning of Israel—Questions 10.1-10.2

Redefining God’s People

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 10.1-10.2 address the meaning of “Israel” in Scripture:

• 10.1: “What is the biblical meaning of Israel? What evidence proves that a person has become Israel?”
  • Answer: “Israel refers to the one who overcomes (i.e. the winner). The creation of the twelve tribes is the evidence.”
• 10.2: “What are the three types of Israel that appear in Bible according to their biblical eras?”
  • Answer:
    • Old Testament: Physical Israel
    • First coming: Spiritual Israel
    • Second coming: New Spiritual Israel

This teaching represents a crucial shift in how students will understand the people of God and their own identity.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

The name “Israel” does have a meaning related to overcoming. Genesis 32:28 records: “Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.'”

The Bible also shows a progression in how “Israel” is understood:

1. Physical Israel: The descendants of Jacob/Israel, the twelve tribes
2. Spiritual Israel: Paul teaches in Romans 9:6-8 that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” and that “it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes these biblical truths and distorts them in several ways:

Problem 1: Identifying “Israel” with “The One Who Overcomes”

By defining Israel as “the one who overcomes,” SCJ creates a framework where “Israel” becomes a title for a specific individual (Lee Man-hee) rather than the people of God collectively.

While the name “Israel” was given to Jacob after he wrestled with God, it became the name for his descendants—the people of God. Throughout Scripture, “Israel” refers to:

• The twelve tribes descended from Jacob (Exodus 1:1-7)
• The northern kingdom after the split (1 Kings 12:16-20)
• The people of God collectively (Psalm 147:2; Isaiah 44:21)
• Believers in Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29; 6:16)

The Bible never uses “Israel” as a title for one specific individual who will come in the future. This is an SCJ invention designed to elevate their founder.

Problem 2: The “Evidence” of Twelve Tribes

By stating that “the creation of the twelve tribes is the evidence” that someone has become Israel, SCJ sets up their later claim that Lee Man-hee has created the “twelve tribes” of Shincheonji, proving he is the true Israel.

This is circular reasoning:

1. Define “Israel” as “the one who overcomes”
2. Say the evidence is “creating twelve tribes”
3. Claim Lee Man-hee created twelve tribes
4. Therefore, Lee Man-hee is Israel

But this logic only works if you accept the initial premise that “Israel” refers to one individual who will create twelve tribes. The Bible never teaches this.

Problem 3: “New Spiritual Israel”

By creating a category of “New Spiritual Israel” for the second coming, SCJ implies that there’s a new people of God distinct from the church that Jesus established.

The New Testament teaches that the church IS the Israel of God:

• Galatians 6:16: “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.”
• 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession”
• Ephesians 2:19: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household”

There is one people of God—those who are in Christ through faith. There is no “New Spiritual Israel” that replaces or supersedes the church.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood “Israel,” they had a nuanced perspective shaped by Jesus’ teaching and the apostles’ writings.

Jesus and Israel:

Jesus saw Himself as the true Israel, the faithful Son who succeeded where Israel failed:

• Where Israel was tested in the wilderness for 40 years and failed, Jesus was tested for 40 days and overcame (Matthew 4:1-11, quoting Deuteronomy passages about Israel’s wilderness experience)
• Where Israel was called out of Egypt, Jesus was called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15, quoting Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I called my son”)
• Jesus chose twelve apostles, corresponding to the twelve tribes, to form the nucleus of the new people of God

Paul and Israel:

Paul wrestled deeply with the question of Israel’s identity in Romans 9-11. His conclusions:

1. Not all ethnic Israel is true Israel: “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children” (Romans 9:6-7)
2. True Israel is defined by faith: “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham” (Romans 4:16)
3. Gentile believers are grafted into Israel: Romans 11:17-24 uses the metaphor of an olive tree, with Gentile believers being grafted into the tree of Israel through faith
4. The church is the Israel of God: Galatians 6:16 refers to “the Israel of God,” which in context refers to all believers (both Jews and Gentiles) who follow the rule of new creation in Christ

The Early Church and Israel:

The early church understood itself as the continuation and fulfillment of Israel, not as a replacement. As explained in “Early Christian Revelation Understanding,” first-century believers saw themselves as:

• The true circumcision (Philippians 3:3)
• Abraham’s offspring (Galatians 3:29)
• The twelve tribes (James 1:1, likely addressing Jewish Christians scattered abroad)
• The people of God’s possession (1 Peter 2:9, using language from Exodus 19:5-6)

They did not anticipate a future “New Spiritual Israel” that would be different from the church. The church IS the new covenant people of God.

The Dangerous Implication

By creating the category of “New Spiritual Israel” and identifying it with Shincheonji, SCJ is claiming that:

• The church Jesus established is not the true Israel
• God’s people are not defined by faith in Christ but by membership in SCJ
• The promises to Israel are fulfilled in SCJ, not in the universal church

This effectively unchurches all Christians outside of SCJ and claims that only SCJ members are the true people of God.

This contradicts Jesus’ promise in Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Jesus built His church 2,000 years ago. It has continued through history. It does not need to be rebuilt in Korea in 1984.

Creating an Interpretive Prison

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Questions 11-25 represent the heart of SCJ’s interpretive system. These questions establish a comprehensive framework for interpreting biblical symbols, creating what appears to be a “key” to unlock Scripture’s mysteries. This section is extensive, covering:

• Questions 11.1-11.2: Why Jesus spoke in parables and the consequences of understanding or not understanding them
• Questions 12-13: The parables of Matthew 13 and their interpretation
• Questions 14-25: An exhaustive list of figurative meanings for biblical symbols (farmers, seeds, trees, birds, water, fire, beasts, etc.)

Let’s examine the foundational questions first, then analyze the interpretive system as a whole.

The Foundation: Questions 11.1-11.2

11.1: “Give two reasons Jesus spoke figuratively”

• Answer: “To hide the secrets of the kingdom of heaven from his enemies and to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament”

11.2: “Explain the differences between those who understand the figurative language and those who do not”

• Answer:
  • “Those who understand the figurative language: receive atonement for their sins and salvation”
  • “Those who do not understand the figurative language: become outsiders and because their sins are not atoned, they do not receive salvation”

This is where SCJ’s system becomes explicitly exclusivist and soteriologically dangerous.

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

Jesus did speak in parables, and He did explain that parables served multiple purposes:

Mark 4:10-12: “When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”‘”

Matthew 13:34-35: “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.'”

Jesus’ parables did serve to:

1. Reveal truth to those with receptive hearts
2. Conceal truth from those with hardened hearts
3. Fulfill Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 78:2)

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes these biblical truths and creates a system where:

Problem 1: Making Parable Interpretation a Condition for Salvation

Question 11.2 explicitly states that those who don’t understand the figurative language “become outsiders and because their sins are not atoned, they do not receive salvation.”

This makes correct interpretation of parables a requirement for salvation, which is a fundamental departure from biblical Christianity.

The Bible teaches that salvation comes through faith in Christ, not through correct interpretation:

• Acts 16:31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”
• Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”
• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”

Notice that none of these passages mention understanding parables as a condition for salvation.

Problem 2: The Context of Mark 4:10-12

SCJ uses Mark 4:10-12 to support their claim that understanding parables is necessary for salvation. But let’s examine this passage more carefully.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, which describes the hardened state of Israel in Isaiah’s day. The people had repeatedly rejected God’s word, so God gave them over to their hardness of heart. The parables served to confirm the judgment already present—those with hard hearts would not understand, while those with receptive hearts would seek understanding.

But notice what happens next in Mark 4:13-20: Jesus explains the parable to His disciples. He doesn’t leave them in confusion. He provides the interpretation.

The issue wasn’t intellectual capacity to decode symbols. The issue was the condition of the heart—receptivity to God’s word. Those who genuinely sought God would ask for understanding (as the disciples did), and Jesus would provide it.

SCJ reverses this: they claim to have the exclusive interpretation, and unless you accept their specific decoding of symbols, you cannot be saved. This makes salvation dependent on accepting SCJ’s authority, not on faith in Christ.

Problem 3: Creating a Gnostic System

By making salvation dependent on understanding hidden meanings, SCJ creates what early Christians called “Gnosticism”—the belief that salvation comes through special knowledge (gnosis) available only to an elite group.

The early church strongly opposed Gnosticism. Irenaeus (c. 180 AD) wrote against Gnostic teachers who claimed to have secret interpretations of Scripture that were necessary for salvation. He insisted that the gospel is simple and accessible to all who believe in Christ.

As explained in Chapter 19 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story,” SCJ’s system is essentially neo-Gnostic: “Salvation is not by grace through faith in Christ alone, but by grace through faith plus correct interpretation of Revelation as taught by SCJ.”

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians understood Jesus’ parables, they recognized several important principles:

1. Parables Illustrate Spiritual Truths

Jesus’ parables were not coded prophecies about future events. They were illustrations of spiritual truths about God’s kingdom, using familiar imagery from everyday life:

• The parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20) teaches about different responses to God’s word
• The parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32) teaches about the kingdom’s surprising growth
• The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) teaches about loving one’s neighbor
• The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) teaches about God’s grace and forgiveness

These parables conveyed clear spiritual lessons. They were not cryptic codes requiring special knowledge to decode.

2. Understanding Requires a Receptive Heart

Jesus explained that understanding parables requires:

• Hearing with faith: “Consider carefully what you hear” (Mark 4:24)
• A good and honest heart: “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (Luke 8:15)
• Humility to ask: The disciples asked Jesus to explain the parables (Mark 4:10), and He did

The barrier to understanding wasn’t lack of a special interpretive key. It was hardness of heart and unwillingness to receive God’s word.

3. Jesus Provided Interpretations

When the disciples didn’t understand, Jesus explained the parables to them (Mark 4:13-20, 34; Matthew 13:36-43, 49-50). He didn’t leave them in confusion or tell them they needed to wait 2,000 years for someone to explain it.

4. The Apostles Taught Plainly

After Pentecost, the apostles preached the gospel plainly, not in coded parables:

• 2 Corinthians 3:12: “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold”
• 2 Corinthians 4:2: “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God”

The gospel message was proclaimed openly, not hidden in parables that required special knowledge to understand.

The Comprehensive Symbol System: Questions 14-25

Questions 14-25 provide an exhaustive list of figurative meanings for biblical symbols. Let’s examine this system as a whole before looking at specific examples.

The System Includes:

• Agricultural imagery: Farmer, field, seed, tree, branch, leaf, fruit, vine, wine, weeds (Q14-15)
• Containers and tools: Bowl, vessel, scale, rod, staff, iron scepter (Q16)
• Elements: Fire, water, rain, dew, river, sea (Q17, 19)
• Light and darkness: Light, day, darkness, night, eyes, blind, deaf, lampstands (Q18)
• Clothing and treasures: Clothes, robes, wedding clothes, treasures, pearls, gold (Q18)
• Music: Song, new song (Q18)
• Animals: Four living creatures, beast, serpent, leopard, lion, bear, locust, scorpion, dog, pig, ox, sheep (Q20-21)
• Body parts: Head, horn, tail (Q21)
• Geography: Vineyard, mountain, path, Jerusalem, Babylon (Q21, 23, 25)
• Objects: Seal, trumpet, stone, white stone, image, idol, incense, cooking pot (Q22-23)
• Spiritual concepts: Death, grave, resurrection, breath of life, groom, bride, widow, orphan (Q24)
• Conflict: War, weapon, key of heaven, key of hell, orthodoxy, cult (Q25)

What’s Biblical:

The Bible does use figurative language extensively. Jesus used agricultural imagery (sower, seeds, harvest), referred to Himself as the vine (John 15), called Himself the light of the world (John 8:12), and used many other metaphors.

The Old Testament prophets used symbolic language: trees representing nations (Ezekiel 31), beasts representing kingdoms (Daniel 7), water representing peoples (Revelation 17:15), etc.

What’s Uniquely SCJ:

However, SCJ’s system has several critical problems:

Problem 1: Rigid, One-to-One Correspondences

SCJ creates a system where each symbol has one fixed meaning that applies universally across all biblical texts. For example:

• Farmer = Pastor (Q14.1)
• Field = Person’s heart and the world; His field = Jesus’ Church (Q14.1)
• Tree = Inner being born again of the seed of the word and pastor (Q14.2)
• Water = The Word (Q19.1)
• Sea = World (Q19.4)

This rigid system ignores the fact that biblical authors use symbols flexibly, with meanings determined by context.

For example, “water” can symbolize:

• The Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39)
• The word of God (Ephesians 5:26)
• Peoples and nations (Revelation 17:15)
• Cleansing and baptism (Ephesians 5:26)
• Life and refreshment (Psalm 23:2)
• Judgment (Genesis 7:17-24)

The meaning depends on the context, not on a universal decoding key.

Problem 2: Eisegesis Rather Than Exegesis

SCJ’s system practices “eisegesis” (reading meaning into the text) rather than “exegesis” (drawing meaning from the text).

Instead of asking, “What did this symbol mean in its original context?” SCJ asks, “How can we make this symbol fit our organizational narrative?”

For example, SCJ teaches that:

• Sun = Pastors (Q23.1)
• Moon = Evangelists (Q23.1)
• Stars = Saints (Q23.1)

This interpretation is then applied to passages like Revelation 12:1 (“A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head”) to create an elaborate narrative about SCJ’s organizational structure.

But in the original context, Revelation 12:1 draws from Genesis 37:9-10, where Joseph dreams of the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing to him. His father interprets this as representing himself (Jacob/sun), his wife (moon), and Joseph’s brothers (stars)—i.e., the family/nation of Israel.

Revelation 12:1 uses this imagery to represent the people of God (Israel/the church) giving birth to the Messiah. It’s not a code for SCJ’s organizational structure.

Problem 3: Ignoring Literary Context and Genre

SCJ’s system treats all biblical literature the same way, ignoring the different genres and their interpretive principles:

• Historical narrative (Genesis, Exodus, etc.) records actual events
• Poetry (Psalms, Song of Solomon) uses heightened, metaphorical language
• Wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) provides practical instruction
• Prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) addresses specific historical situations while pointing to future fulfillment
• Apocalyptic (Daniel, Revelation) uses highly symbolic imagery to reveal spiritual realities

Each genre requires different interpretive approaches. SCJ’s one-size-fits-all symbol system ignores these distinctions.

As explained in “Chiasmus in the New Testament,” biblical authors used sophisticated literary techniques appropriate to their genre and purpose. Imposing a rigid symbol system on all texts violates their literary integrity.

Problem 4: Creating Interpretive Dependency

By establishing this comprehensive symbol system, SCJ creates total interpretive dependency. Students can no longer read the Bible independently—every symbol must be decoded using SCJ’s key.

This is what Chapter 21 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “hermeneutical captivity”: “Students’ minds become so thoroughly shaped by SCJ’s interpretive framework that they cannot read Scripture any other way. The organization becomes the necessary mediator between the student and God’s word.”

Examining Specific Interpretations

Let’s examine some specific interpretations from questions 14-25 to see how SCJ’s system works:

Example 1: The Farmer and the Field (Q14.1)

SCJ’s Answer:

• Farmer = Pastor
• Field = Person’s heart and the world
• His field = Jesus’ Church

Biblical Context:

In Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23 (the parable of the sower), Jesus explains:

• The farmer = the one who sows the word (Jesus Himself, or anyone who proclaims the gospel)
• The field = different types of hearts/people who hear the word
• The seed = the word of God

In Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (the parable of the weeds), Jesus explains:

• The farmer = the Son of Man (Jesus)
• The field = the world
• The good seed = the sons of the kingdom
• The weeds = the sons of the evil one

Notice that Jesus Himself provides the interpretations. We don’t need SCJ’s decoding key—Jesus already explained it.

Also notice that “field” has different meanings in different parables:

• In the parable of the sower, the field represents different types of hearts
• In the parable of the weeds, the field represents the world

The meaning is determined by context, not by a universal key.

Example 2: Trees and Birds (Q13.1-13.2)

SCJ’s Answer:

• Two types of trees: tree of life and tree of knowledge of good and evil
• Two types of birds: holy spirits and evil spirits

Biblical Context:

The tree of life and tree of knowledge of good and evil appear in Genesis 2-3 as literal trees in the Garden of Eden. They represent:

• Tree of life: Access to eternal life in God’s presence
• Tree of knowledge of good and evil: The test of obedience—would Adam and Eve trust God’s word or seek to determine good and evil for themselves?

These trees are not universal symbols that appear throughout Scripture. They are specific elements of the Genesis narrative.

When Jesus uses tree imagery in Matthew 13:31-32 (the parable of the mustard seed), He’s not referring to the tree of life or the tree of knowledge. He’s illustrating how God’s kingdom starts small but grows large.

When birds appear in that parable, they represent nations/peoples finding shelter in God’s kingdom (echoing Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6; Daniel 4:12). They’re not “holy spirits and evil spirits.”

SCJ’s system forces all tree and bird imagery into their predetermined categories, ignoring the actual meaning in context.

Example 3: Water (Q19.1, 19.7, 19.8)

SCJ’s Answer:

• Water (dew, rain) = The Word
• Sea of glass = Words of God that wash our inner being
• Bitter water (water of Wormwood) = The devil’s lies

Biblical Context:

Water imagery in Scripture is rich and varied:

• Living water = Holy Spirit: John 7:38-39 says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”
• Water = cleansing: Ephesians 5:26 speaks of “cleansing her by the washing with water through the word”
• Water = peoples/nations: Revelation 17:15 explains, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages”
• Water = life and refreshment: Psalm 23:2 says, “He leads me beside quiet waters”
• Water = judgment: The flood in Genesis 7 represents God’s judgment

The meaning depends on context. SCJ’s system flattens this rich imagery into simplistic equations.

Example 4: Beasts (Q20.2)

SCJ’s Answer:

• Beast (from Rv 13) = False pastor (a person who does not understand the word) → Books of moral teachings
• Animals in books of prophecy = people (3 types: betrayers, destroyers, savior and people belonging to each affiliation)

Biblical Context:

In Daniel 7, beasts represent kingdoms/empires:

• Lion with eagle’s wings = Babylon (7:4)
• Bear = Medo-Persia (7:5)
• Leopard with four wings = Greece (7:6)
• Terrifying beast with ten horns = Rome (7:7)

In Revelation 13, the beast from the sea combines features from Daniel’s beasts, representing the Roman Empire and its emperor worship system that persecuted Christians.

As explained in “Ken Gentry: The Beast of Revelation IDENTIFIED,” first-century Christians would have recognized the beast as representing Rome, particularly Nero Caesar, whose name in Hebrew gematria equals 666 (Revelation 13:18).

SCJ’s interpretation that the beast = “false pastor” ignores the historical context and forces the text to fit their narrative about Korean pastors in the 1980s.

Example 5: Orthodoxy and Cult (Q25.4)

SCJ’s Answer:

• Orthodoxy = God, God’s kingdom of 12 tribes
• Cult = Devil, devil’s kingdom of Babylon

The Dangerous Implication:

This question reveals SCJ’s ultimate agenda: to redefine “orthodoxy” and “cult” so that SCJ becomes the standard of truth and all other Christianity becomes “cult.”

The instructor’s commentary is revealing: “From God’s perspective, it ultimately means those that belong to Him versus those that do not, which is the real standard… Satan started the first cult, and any place that does not belong to God can be labeled as such.”

This creates a framework where:

• SCJ = orthodoxy = God’s kingdom
• All other Christianity = cult = Satan’s kingdom = Babylon

This is the culmination of the binary thinking established in questions 7-8. Students are being prepared to view all Christianity outside SCJ as satanic.

This directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching in Mark 9:38-40: “Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.'”

Jesus recognized that His followers extended beyond His immediate circle. He didn’t create an exclusive “us vs. them” mentality.

The Psychological Impact of This System

By the time students have memorized questions 11-25, they have internalized a comprehensive interpretive system that:

1. Creates Total Dependency

Students can no longer read the Bible without immediately applying SCJ’s symbol key. Every farmer is a pastor, every field is a church, every tree is a person, every bird is a spirit. Independent Bible reading becomes impossible.

2. Validates SCJ’s Narrative

Once students accept this symbol system, SCJ’s interpretation of Revelation becomes “obvious.” The events of Revelation “clearly” refer to Korean pastors and churches in the 1980s because the symbols “prove” it.

3. Prevents Critical Thinking

If students question SCJ’s interpretation, they’re told they “don’t understand the parables” and therefore risk losing their salvation (Q11.2). This creates enormous psychological pressure to accept SCJ’s teaching without question.

4. Isolates from Other Christians

Students come to believe that other Christians “don’t understand” because they don’t have SCJ’s interpretive key. This creates a sense of superiority and isolation from the broader Christian community.

5. Makes Leaving Psychologically Difficult

If students consider leaving SCJ, they face the terrifying prospect of losing their ability to understand Scripture. The symbol system has become so deeply ingrained that they can’t imagine reading the Bible any other way.

This is what Chapter 28 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” describes as “cognitive colonization”: “SCJ’s interpretive system colonizes students’ minds so thoroughly that they cannot conceive of biblical interpretation existing outside of it.”

The Biblical Alternative: Context-Sensitive Interpretation

Historic Christianity has always interpreted Scripture using principles that respect the text’s integrity:

1. Historical-Grammatical Method

This approach asks:

• What did this text mean to its original audience?
• What is the historical and cultural context?
• What is the grammatical structure and literary genre?
• How does this passage fit in the book’s overall argument?

2. Scripture Interprets Scripture

When symbols are unclear, we look to other passages where the same symbol appears and where the meaning is explained. We don’t impose a predetermined meaning.

3. Christocentric Reading

All Scripture points to Christ and His redemptive work (Luke 24:27, 44-47; John 5:39). Interpretations that make Scripture primarily about identifying contemporary organizations miss the point.

4. Humility and Community

We interpret Scripture in community with other believers, past and present, recognizing that no individual or group has a monopoly on truth (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12).

As explained in “How First-Century Christians Read Revelation Like a Political Cartoon,” the early church read apocalyptic literature with both historical awareness (understanding the immediate context) and theological insight (seeing how it reveals Christ’s victory), without forcing it into rigid symbol systems.

Establishing the Betrayal-Destruction-Salvation Framework

Before we move to the conclusion, we need to examine questions 12-13 in detail, as they establish the narrative framework that SCJ will use to tell their organizational story.

What SCJ Teaches in This Section

Question 12: “Explain the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13 according to the order of events”

The answer provides a sequence:

1. “The farmer sowed good seed in the field”
2. “While people were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds”
3. “When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the weeds also appeared”
4. “The servants asked if they should pull up the weeds”
5. “The farmer said to let both grow together until the harvest”
6. “At harvest time, the weeds are gathered first and burned”
7. “Then the wheat is gathered into the barn”

Question 13: “According to Jesus’ explanation in Matthew 13:36-43, explain the reality of the parable of the weeds”

The answer provides SCJ’s interpretation:

• Farmer = Son of Man (Jesus)
• Field = World (Church)
• Good seed = Sons of the kingdom
• Enemy = Devil
• Weeds = Sons of the evil one
• Harvest = End of the age
• Harvesters = Angels
• Burning the weeds = Judgment
• Gathering wheat into barn = Gathering God’s people into His kingdom

The instructor’s commentary adds crucial details: “This parable is about the events that take place at the time of Jesus’ second coming… The field represents the church that Jesus established 2,000 years ago. The good seed represents the pastors and congregation members who received the word of God… While they were sleeping (spiritually), the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.”

What Is Biblical and What Is Uniquely SCJ

Biblical Elements:

Jesus did tell the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) and provided His own interpretation (Matthew 13:36-43). The basic elements SCJ lists are accurate to the biblical text.

Jesus’ interpretation includes:

• The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man
• The field is the world
• The good seed stands for the people of the kingdom
• The weeds are the people of the evil one
• The enemy who sows them is the devil
• The harvest is the end of the age
• The harvesters are angels

The Uniquely SCJ Framework:

However, SCJ takes Jesus’ interpretation and adds layers that Jesus never intended:

Problem 1: Changing “World” to “Church”

Notice the subtle shift in SCJ’s answer: “Field = World (Church)”

Jesus said the field is “the world” (Greek: kosmos), not the church. This is a crucial distinction.

Jesus’ point in the parable is that good and evil will coexist in the world until the final judgment. God allows this coexistence because prematurely removing the weeds might damage the wheat. At the end of the age, God will separate them.

By changing “world” to “church,” SCJ creates a framework where:

• The parable is about infiltration of the church, not coexistence in the world
• The focus shifts from final judgment to identifying false teachers in the present
• SCJ can claim that their specific organization was infiltrated, fulfilling this prophecy

Problem 2: Making This About SCJ’s History

The instructor’s commentary reveals how SCJ applies this parable: “This parable is about the events that take place at the time of Jesus’ second coming… The field represents the church that Jesus established 2,000 years ago.”

Then comes the crucial application: “While they were sleeping (spiritually), the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.”

As students progress through SCJ’s curriculum, they will learn that this “sleeping” refers to the Tabernacle Temple (a tent church in Korea in the late 1970s-1980s) where Lee Man-hee was a member. SCJ teaches that:

1. The Tabernacle Temple was the “field” where Jesus planted good seed
2. While they were “sleeping,” false teachers infiltrated
3. This infiltration represents the “weeds” being sown
4. Lee Man-hee is the “harvester” who separated the wheat from the weeds
5. Shincheonji is the “barn” where the wheat is gathered

This is what Chapter 23 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” calls “prophetic colonization”: “SCJ takes biblical parables and forces them to fit their organizational narrative, making their history appear to be the fulfillment of Jesus’ teachings.”

Problem 3: Ignoring Jesus’ Actual Point

Jesus’ point in the parable was:

1. God’s patience: God allows good and evil to coexist because premature judgment might harm the righteous (Matthew 13:29-30)
2. Final judgment: At the end of the age, God will separate the righteous from the wicked (Matthew 13:40-43)
3. Encouragement to believers: Don’t be discouraged by the presence of evil in the world; God will ultimately vindicate the righteous
4. Warning to the wicked: Judgment is coming; the wicked will be thrown into the fiery furnace (Matthew 13:42)

Jesus was not giving a prophecy about a specific church in Korea in the 1980s. He was teaching about the coexistence of good and evil in the world until the final judgment.

Historical and First-Century Christian Understanding

When first-century Christians heard this parable, they would have understood it in their immediate context:

The Historical Setting:

Jesus told this parable during His earthly ministry, addressing the question of why the Messiah’s kingdom wasn’t immediately purging evil from the world. The Jews expected the Messiah to establish God’s kingdom by destroying the wicked. Why was Jesus allowing sinners and tax collectors to remain?

Jesus’ answer: The kingdom has come, but the final separation awaits the end of the age. God is patient, allowing time for repentance.

The Early Church’s Application:

The early church applied this parable to their situation:

1. Persecution: Why does God allow persecutors to harm Christians? Because the final judgment hasn’t come yet.
2. False teachers: Why does God allow false teachers in the world? Because premature removal might harm genuine believers, and God will judge at the proper time.
3. Mixed congregations: Why do churches have both genuine and nominal believers? Because only God can see the heart, and final separation awaits the judgment.

As explained in “Early Christian Revelation Understanding,” the early church understood that they lived in the “already but not yet” of God’s kingdom—already inaugurated by Christ’s first coming, but not yet consummated at His return.

What They Did NOT Do:

First-century Christians did not:

• Apply this parable to specific organizational events in their recent past
• Use it to validate their group as the exclusive “wheat” while condemning all others as “weeds”
• Make it a prophecy about events 2,000 years in the future

The Betrayal-Destruction-Salvation Pattern

Questions 12-13 establish the narrative pattern that SCJ will use throughout their teaching:

Stage 1: BETRAYAL

• Good seed is planted (the true church/believers)
• While people are sleeping (spiritually unaware)
• The enemy infiltrates and plants weeds (false teachers/betrayers)

Stage 2: DESTRUCTION

• The weeds grow among the wheat
• The field becomes corrupted
• The true believers are persecuted or deceived

Stage 3: SALVATION

• The harvest comes (the end of the age)
• The harvesters (angels/God’s chosen) separate wheat from weeds
• The wheat is gathered into the barn (God’s kingdom/SCJ)
• The weeds are burned (judgment on the false)

This pattern will be applied to:

• The Old Testament (Israel betrayed → destroyed → remnant saved)
• Jesus’ first coming (Israel betrayed → temple destroyed → church established)
• Jesus’ second coming (Tabernacle Temple betrayed → destroyed → SCJ established)

The instructor’s commentary makes this explicit: “This pattern of betrayal, destruction, and salvation appears throughout Scripture. It’s how God works. First, there’s a chosen people or place. Then, there’s infiltration and betrayal. Then, there’s judgment and destruction. Finally, there’s salvation for the faithful remnant.”

The Psychological Power of This Pattern:

This pattern is psychologically powerful because:

1. It’s partially biblical: The Bible does show cycles of faithfulness-apostasy-judgment-restoration in Israel’s history
2. It creates urgency: If we’re in the “harvest” phase, students must act now to be gathered into the barn (SCJ)
3. It validates SCJ’s existence: SCJ’s organizational struggles become “proof” that they fulfill prophecy
4. It demonizes opposition: Anyone who opposes SCJ is a “weed” trying to prevent the harvest
5. It prevents leaving: Leaving SCJ means being separated from the “wheat” and facing judgment with the “weeds”

The Dangerous Application

As students progress through SCJ’s curriculum, they will learn the specific application of this parable:

The Tabernacle Temple Narrative:

SCJ teaches that in the late 1970s-early 1980s, there was a tent church in Korea called the Tabernacle Temple. According to SCJ:

1. Good seed planted: Pastor Yoo (one of the “Seven Stars”) established the Tabernacle Temple as God’s chosen place
2. Infiltration: While they were “spiritually sleeping,” a pastor from a mainstream denomination infiltrated and took control
3. Destruction: The infiltrator (called “the destroyer” or “the beast”) corrupted the Tabernacle Temple and persecuted the faithful
4. Salvation: Lee Man-hee (the “one who overcomes”) fought against the destroyer, was victorious, and established Shincheonji as the true fulfillment of Revelation’s prophecies

This narrative is presented as the literal fulfillment of:

• The parable of the weeds (Matthew 13)
• The abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15)
• The beast from the sea (Revelation 13)
• The war in heaven (Revelation 12)
• The woman fleeing to the wilderness (Revelation 12:6)
• And dozens of other biblical prophecies

The Critical Question:

The critical question students must ask is: Does this interpretation method have any biblical warrant?

Jesus never said, “This parable is about a tent church in Korea in the 1980s.” He said it’s about the world, the coexistence of good and evil, and the final judgment.

To take Jesus’ clear teaching about the end of the age and apply it to organizational disputes in 1980s Korea is to fundamentally misuse Scripture.

As explained in “SCJ’s Fulfillment of Revelation Part 1,” this method of interpretation can be applied to any organization’s history: “Any group with a founding story involving conflict, persecution, and triumph could claim to fulfill these prophecies using SCJ’s method. The method itself is flawed, regardless of the specific application.”

Part 12: Conclusion and Call to Discernment

Recognizing the System and Finding Freedom

Summary: What We’ve Discovered

Through our examination of the Introductory Level Test (Lesson 57), we’ve uncovered a sophisticated indoctrination system that:

1. Begins with Orthodox Teaching (Questions 1-3)

• Establishes credibility by teaching biblical truths about God, creation, and Satan
• Creates trust: “This is just good Bible teaching”

2. Introduces Subtle Deviations (Questions 4-6)

• Extends biblical patterns beyond what Scripture warrants
• Adds “the one who overcomes” as the seventh pastor alongside Jesus
• Narrows the Bible’s purpose to identifying God’s and Satan’s representatives

3. Creates Binary Thinking (Questions 7-8)

• Establishes rigid categories: God’s kingdom vs. Satan’s kingdom
• Eliminates nuance and complexity
• Prepares students to view all Christianity outside SCJ as “Babylon”

4. Adds Requirements to Grace (Question 9)

• Makes understanding parables a condition for salvation
• Redefines “drinking Jesus’ blood” as “knowing His words”
• Creates a works-based salvation system

5. Redefines God’s People (Questions 10)

• Makes “Israel” refer to one individual (Lee Man-hee) rather than God’s people collectively
• Creates a category of “New Spiritual Israel” (SCJ) distinct from the church
• Unchurches all Christians outside SCJ

6. Establishes Interpretive Control (Questions 11-25)

• Makes salvation dependent on understanding parables
• Creates a comprehensive symbol system that colonizes students’ minds
• Makes independent Bible reading impossible
• Validates SCJ’s organizational narrative as prophetic fulfillment

7. Establishes the Narrative Framework (Questions 12-13)

• Uses the parable of the weeds to create a betrayal-destruction-salvation pattern
• Applies this pattern to SCJ’s organizational history
• Makes SCJ’s existence appear to be the inevitable fulfillment of prophecy

The Progression of Indoctrination

By the time students complete this Introductory Level Test, they have:

Cognitively:

• Internalized a comprehensive interpretive system
• Accepted that understanding parables is necessary for salvation
• Learned to read every biblical text through SCJ’s symbol key
• Memorized answers that seem biblical but contain subtle deviations

Psychologically:

• Developed anxiety about whether they truly understand
• Created dependency on SCJ for biblical interpretation
• Begun to view other Christians as “outsiders” who don’t understand
• Invested significant time and effort (writing by hand for hours)

Socially:

• Committed to advancing to the next level (Intermediate)
• Formed relationships with instructors and fellow students
• Begun to distance from previous Christian communities
• Entered a system where questioning is discouraged

Spiritually:

• Shifted focus from Christ to prophetic interpretation
• Accepted that salvation requires more than faith in Christ
• Begun to doubt the validity of their previous Christian experience
• Opened themselves to further indoctrination

This is why the Introductory Level Test requires 90% to pass—students must demonstrate thorough internalization of SCJ’s system before advancing to more explicit teachings about SCJ’s identity as the fulfillment of Revelation.

The Test They’re Really Taking

The Introductory Level Test isn’t primarily testing biblical knowledge. It’s testing:

1. Compliance: Will students invest the time and effort to memorize SCJ’s answers?
2. Acceptance: Will students accept SCJ’s interpretive framework without questioning?
3. Commitment: Are students willing to advance deeper into the system?
4. Isolation: Are students beginning to see themselves as different from other Christians?

Students who score 90% or higher have demonstrated that they’re ready for the next phase of indoctrination, where they’ll learn explicitly that:

• SCJ is the fulfillment of Revelation’s prophecies
• Lee Man-hee is the promised pastor, the one who overcomes
• All other Christianity is Babylon and must be left behind
• Salvation requires joining SCJ’s 144,000

Red Flags: How to Recognize the System

If you or someone you love is studying with SCJ (or any group using similar methods), watch for these warning signs:

Doctrinal Red Flags:

1. Adding requirements to salvation: Any teaching that makes salvation dependent on something beyond faith in Christ (understanding parables, joining a specific organization, accepting a particular prophetic interpretation)
2. Exclusive claims: Any teaching that claims one organization alone has the truth, is the only true church, or is the exclusive fulfillment of prophecy
3. Redefining biblical terms: Changing the meaning of “Israel,” “church,” “kingdom,” “salvation,” etc., to fit an organizational narrative
4. Rigid symbol systems: Creating fixed meanings for biblical symbols that must be applied universally, regardless of context
5. Recent fulfillment claims: Teaching that ancient prophecies are being fulfilled in recent organizational events rather than in Christ

Methodological Red Flags:

1. Deception about identity: Not revealing the group’s name or distinctive teachings until students are deeply invested
2. Gradual revelation: Withholding controversial teachings until students have accepted the foundational framework
3. Handwritten memorization: Requiring students to write out questions and answers by hand (creating psychological investment)
4. High pass requirements: Setting high standards (90%) that require intensive study and memorization
5. Advancement systems: Creating levels that students must pass through, each requiring greater commitment

Psychological Red Flags:

1. Binary thinking: Creating rigid “us vs. them” categories with no middle ground
2. Salvation anxiety: Making students doubt their salvation unless they accept the group’s teaching
3. Interpretive dependency: Making students unable to read the Bible without the group’s interpretive key
4. Isolation from community: Encouraging students to distance from other Christians who “don’t understand”
5. Questioning discouraged: Treating questions as evidence of spiritual immaturity or satanic influence

Social Red Flags:

1. Time commitment: Requiring increasing amounts of time for classes, study, and memorization
2. Relationship changes: Encouraging students to prioritize relationships within the group over previous friendships
3. Secrecy: Asking students not to discuss what they’re learning with family or friends
4. Pressure to advance: Creating urgency to complete levels and demonstrate commitment
5. Emotional manipulation: Using fear, guilt, or shame to maintain compliance

For Students: Questions to Ask

If you’re currently studying with SCJ or have completed this Introductory Level Test, consider these questions:

About Salvation:

1. Does the Bible really teach that understanding parables is necessary for salvation? (Compare with Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9)
2. Did the thief on the cross need to understand Revelation to be saved? (Luke 23:42-43)
3. Are there Christians throughout history who were genuinely saved without understanding SCJ’s interpretation of prophecy?
4. Does salvation come through faith in Christ alone, or faith in Christ plus correct prophetic interpretation?

About Interpretation:

1. Did Jesus intend the parable of the weeds to be about a tent church in Korea in the 1980s, or about the coexistence of good and evil in the world until final judgment?
2. When first-century Christians read Revelation, would they have understood it as being about events 2,000 years in the future in Korea?
3. Does SCJ’s interpretive method respect the historical and literary context of Scripture, or does it impose meanings the original authors never intended?
4. Could SCJ’s method of interpretation be applied to any organization’s history to make it appear to fulfill prophecy?

About Authority:

1. Does the Bible teach that understanding Scripture requires a special interpretive key held by one organization?
2. Did Jesus promise that the Holy Spirit would guide all believers into truth (John 16:13), or only members of one organization?
3. Why does SCJ claim exclusive authority to interpret Scripture when Jesus gave this role to the Holy Spirit working in all believers?
4. If SCJ’s interpretation is the only correct one, why have Christians throughout 2,000 years of history understood these passages differently?

About the Church:

1. Did Jesus establish His church 2,000 years ago (Matthew 16:18), or did it need to be re-established in Korea in 1984?
2. Does the Bible teach that the church is all believers in Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27), or one specific organization?
3. Are Christians in other denominations and churches truly “Babylon” and part of Satan’s kingdom, or are they brothers and sisters in Christ?
4. Does the presence of problems in churches mean they’re not true churches, or does it reflect the reality that believers are still being sanctified? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Philippians 1:6)

About Lee Man-hee:

1. Does the Bible teach that another human figure would come after Christ to complete what He left unfinished?
2. Did Jesus say “It is finished” (John 19:30) on the cross, or did He leave essential work for someone else to complete?
3. Does the New Testament present Christ as the final revelation of God (Hebrews 1:1-2), or does it anticipate another revealer?
4. Is there any biblical warrant for identifying “the one who overcomes” in Revelation with one specific individual rather than all faithful believers?

For Families: How to Help a Loved One

If someone you love is involved with SCJ, here are some practical steps:

1. Educate Yourself

• Learn about SCJ’s teachings and methods (resources at closerlookinitiative.com)
• Understand the indoctrination process so you can recognize where your loved one is in the system
• Study biblical interpretation principles so you can engage thoughtfully

2. Maintain Relationship

• Don’t cut off contact or issue ultimatums (this often drives people deeper into the group)
• Continue to express love and concern without being judgmental
• Keep communication lines open, even if your loved one becomes distant

3. Ask Questions, Don’t Lecture

• Use gentle, thoughtful questions rather than confrontational arguments
• Help your loved one think critically without making them defensive
• Focus on biblical truth and interpretive principles, not just attacking SCJ

4. Provide Perspective

• Share resources that explain biblical interpretation (see resources below)
• Connect your loved one with former SCJ members who can share their experiences
• Help them see that Christians throughout history have understood these passages differently

5. Pray and Trust God

• Recognize that ultimately, only God can open someone’s eyes
• Pray for wisdom, patience, and the right opportunities to speak truth
• Trust that God loves your loved one more than you do and is working in their life

6. Seek Support

• Connect with other families who have loved ones in SCJ
• Consider working with a counselor who understands high-control groups
• Don’t try to handle this alone—you need support too

For Former Members: The Path to Recovery

If you’ve left SCJ or are considering leaving, know that recovery is possible. Many have walked this path before you:

1. Recognize the Deception

• Acknowledge that you were deceived, not stupid
• Understand that SCJ’s methods are designed to be persuasive
• Give yourself grace for the time you spent in the group

2. Relearn Biblical Interpretation

• Study how to read the Bible in its historical and literary context
• Learn about different genres of biblical literature and how to interpret each
• Discover the richness of Scripture when read without SCJ’s rigid system

3. Reconnect with Christian Community

• Find a healthy church that teaches the Bible faithfully
• Be honest with church leaders about your background so they can provide appropriate support
• Give yourself time to rebuild trust in Christian community

4. Process the Experience

• Consider working with a counselor who understands spiritual abuse and high-control groups
• Journal about your experience to help process what happened
• Connect with other former members who understand what you’ve been through

5. Rebuild Your Faith

• Rediscover the simplicity and beauty of the gospel: salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone
• Experience the freedom of reading Scripture without fear or rigid interpretive systems
• Learn to hear God’s voice through His Word and His Spirit, not through an organization

6. Help Others

• When you’re ready, share your story to help others recognize and avoid SCJ
• Provide support to others who are leaving or considering leaving
• Use your experience to help families understand what their loved ones are going through

Resources for Further Study

Understanding SCJ:

• Closer Look Initiative (closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination): Comprehensive resources on SCJ’s teachings and methods
• “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story”: The 30-chapter series this refutation is based on
• “SCJ’s Fulfillment of Revelation Parts 1 & 2”: Detailed examination of SCJ’s prophetic claims
• “The Real Reasons Behind the Tabernacle Temple’s Destruction and Sale”: Historical investigation of SCJ’s founding narrative

Understanding Biblical Interpretation:

• “How First-Century Christians Read Revelation Like a Political Cartoon”: Explains how early Christians understood apocalyptic literature
• “Early Christian Revelation Understanding”: Shows how the early church interpreted Revelation
• “Chiasmus in the New Testament”: Explores biblical literary techniques
• “The Revelation Project”: A faithful, contextual study of Revelation

Understanding Revelation’s Historical Context:

• “Ken Gentry: The Beast of Revelation IDENTIFIED”: Explains the historical-contextual interpretation of Revelation 13
• “Betrayal, Destruction, Salvation – A Christian Response”: Addresses SCJ’s use of this pattern

For Former Members:

• Testimonies of former SCJ members (available at closerlookinitiative.com)
• Support groups for those affected by high-control religious groups
• Resources on spiritual abuse recovery

The Gospel Truth: Simple and Sufficient

After examining SCJ’s complex system of interpretation, requirements for salvation, and organizational claims, we return to the beautiful simplicity of the biblical gospel:

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

• Grace alone: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• Faith alone: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)
• Christ alone: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

You don’t need to:

• Understand complex symbol systems
• Decode parables with a special key
• Join a specific organization
• Accept a particular interpretation of Revelation
• Achieve 90% on a test
• Prove your worthiness

You need only:

• Recognize your need for salvation
• Believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again
• Trust in Him alone for salvation
• Follow Him as Lord

This is the gospel. It’s simple enough for a child to understand, yet profound enough to occupy theologians for a lifetime. It’s free, yet it cost Jesus everything. It’s available to all, yet it requires a response of faith.

SCJ’s system adds layers of complexity, requirements, and exclusivity that obscure this beautiful truth. But the truth remains:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Not whoever understands parables. Not whoever joins the right organization. Not whoever achieves the right score on a test.

Whoever believes in Him.

Final Word: An Invitation to Freedom

If you’re currently studying with SCJ, you face a choice:

You can continue down the path of increasing complexity, where salvation depends on understanding symbols, accepting organizational claims, and achieving the right scores. This path leads to anxiety, isolation, and dependence on human authority.

Or you can return to the simplicity of the gospel, where salvation is a free gift received by faith in Christ. This path leads to peace, freedom, and direct relationship with God through Jesus.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

SCJ’s yoke is heavy: memorization, testing, advancement, proving yourself, constant anxiety about understanding correctly.

Jesus’ yoke is light: believe, trust, follow, rest in His finished work.

The choice is yours.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Appendix: Detailed Question-by-Question Analysis

For those who want a comprehensive, question-by-question refutation of the Introductory Level Test, here is a complete breakdown:

Questions 1.1-1.3: The Foundation

1.1: Who created heaven, earth, and all creation?

• SCJ Answer: God
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Hebrews 3:4)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes orthodox foundation to build credibility

1.2: What kind of entity is the Creator?

• SCJ Answer: He is who He is, That is, self-existent
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Exodus 3:14; Psalm 90:2)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Continues orthodox teaching to establish trust

1.3: What kind of entity is the devil?

• SCJ Answer: A created being, a fallen angel
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Ezekiel 28:13-17; Isaiah 14:12-15; Jude 6)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes binary worldview (God vs. Satan) that will later be used to categorize organizations

Questions 2.1-2.6: The Purpose of Religion

2.1: Who gave us true religion?

• SCJ Answer: God
• Biblical Assessment: Correct in principle (James 1:27 speaks of “pure religion”)
• Concern: SCJ will later define “true religion” exclusively as their organization

2.2: To whom was true religion given?

• SCJ Answer: To sinners
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Sets up later teaching that only those who recognize they’re sinners (and join SCJ) receive true religion

2.3: Why was it given?

• SCJ Answer: To make known God, who is life, and the devil, who is death
• Biblical Assessment: Partially correct but incomplete; Scripture’s purpose is multifaceted (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4)
• Concern: Narrows Bible’s purpose to identifying God’s and Satan’s representatives, preparing for later teaching that SCJ = God’s representatives, other churches = Satan’s representatives

2.4: Who is the author of the Bible? How many people did the author use?

• SCJ Answer: God, about 35 people
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes divine authority of Scripture, which SCJ will claim to interpret exclusively

2.5-2.6: Statistics about the Bible

• SCJ Answer: Provides correct statistics about OT/NT books, chapters, verses
• Biblical Assessment: Factually accurate
• Purpose in SCJ System: Creates impression of comprehensive biblical knowledge

Questions 3.1-3.2: The Seven Pastors and Seven Periods

3.1: Give seven pastors whom God appointed from Adam’s time to the time of Revelation in order

• SCJ Answer: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jesus, the one who overcomes (New John)
• Biblical Assessment: First six are biblical figures, but adding “the one who overcomes” as a seventh pastor is not biblical
• Major Concern: Creates a framework where Lee Man-hee is positioned alongside Jesus as the final pastor
• Biblical Response: Hebrews 1:1-2 presents Jesus as God’s final revelation; there is no indication of another human figure to come

3.2: Categorize biblical history into seven periods in sequential order

• SCJ Answer: Period of Genesis → Period of Exodus and the Law → Period of the judges → Period of the kings → Period of the prophets → Period of the gospel of heaven → Period of re-creation and revelation
• Biblical Assessment: First six periods are reasonable divisions of biblical history, but “Period of re-creation and revelation” is an SCJ invention
• Major Concern: Implies that biblical history culminates in SCJ’s era, not in Christ
• Biblical Response: Hebrews 1:2 says we are in “these last days” inaugurated by Christ, not awaiting another era

Questions 4.1-4.6: The Pattern of Promise and Fulfillment

4.1: At the time of Exodus, who came to fulfill the promise God made to Abraham?

• SCJ Answer: God came to Moses to fulfill the promise he made to Abraham
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Exodus 3:6-8; Acts 7:17)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes pattern that will be illegitimately extended

4.2: At the time of Jesus’ first coming, who came to fulfill the promise God made through the Old Testament prophets?

• SCJ Answer: God came to Jesus to fulfill the promise he made through the Old Testament prophets
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Matthew 1:22-23; Luke 24:44)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Continues pattern to make third application seem natural

4.3: Who is the promised pastor who fulfills New Testament prophecies?

• SCJ Answer: The one who overcomes, New John (Rv 21:6-7)
• Biblical Assessment: NOT biblical; “the one who overcomes” in Revelation refers to all faithful believers, not one specific individual
• Major Concern: This is where SCJ’s system deviates into heresy, claiming Lee Man-hee is the promised pastor
• Biblical Response: Christ is the final revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2); there is no promised pastor to come after Him

4.4-4.6: The three time periods

• SCJ Answer: Time of Moses = Period of the law; Time of Jesus’ first coming = Period of faith in the gospel; Time of Jesus’ second coming = Period of the completion of heaven
• Biblical Assessment: First two are biblical, but “Period of the completion of heaven” as a current era fulfilled by SCJ is not biblical
• Major Concern: SCJ claims we’re in the third period NOW, fulfilled by their organization
• Biblical Response: The completion of heaven awaits Christ’s return (Revelation 21-22), not the founding of a Korean organization

Questions 5.1-5.5: The Preparers of the Way

5.1: Who came before Moses?

• SCJ Answer: Aaron (Ex 4:8-17)
• Biblical Assessment: Correct
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes pattern of forerunners

5.2: Who came before Jesus?

• SCJ Answer: John the Baptist (Jn 5:35)
• Biblical Assessment: Correct (Matthew 3:1-3; Malachi 3:1)
• Purpose in SCJ System: Continues pattern to make third application seem natural

5.3: Who came before “the one who overcomes”?

• SCJ Answer: The Seven Stars (Rev 1:20)
• Biblical Assessment: NOT biblical; the Seven Stars are the angels/messengers of the seven churches in Asia Minor, not forerunners for a future individual
• Major Concern: SCJ claims the Seven Stars were seven specific Korean pastors who prepared the way for Lee Man-hee
• Biblical Response: Revelation 1:20 explains that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches—literal first-century churches, not prophecies about 1980s Korea

5.4: What was their role?

• SCJ Answer: Preparing the way for the Lord
• Biblical Assessment: True for Aaron and John the Baptist, but not applicable to the Seven Stars as SCJ interprets them
• Concern: Creates validation for SCJ’s organizational narrative

5.5: Provide five OT prophecies about Jesus and their NT fulfillment

• SCJ Answer: Provides accurate chart of prophecy and fulfillment
• Biblical Assessment: Correct
• Purpose in SCJ System: Establishes principle of prophecy-fulfillment that SCJ will apply to their organization

Questions 6.1-6.3: The Four Categories of Scripture

6.1: The Bible contains four categories

• SCJ Answer: History, instructions, prophecies, and fulfillment
• Biblical Assessment: Oversimplified but not entirely wrong
• Concern: Reduces Bible to a prophecy-fulfillment manual, missing its richness and diversity

6.2: Prophecies are divided into three categories

• SCJ Answer: Betrayal, destruction, and salvation (2 Thes 2:1-3)
• Biblical Assessment: While this pattern appears in some biblical narratives, it’s not THE pattern for all prophecy
• Major Concern: This becomes the lens through which SCJ reads all Scripture, forcing texts to fit their organizational narrative
• Biblical Response: The primary pattern of Scripture is creation-fall-redemption-consummation, centered on Christ

6.3: Prophecies must be made known to whom?

• SCJ Answer: To the chosen people who will attain salvation
• Biblical Assessment: Creates exclusivism not found in Scripture
• Concern: Sets up teaching that only SCJ members are the “chosen people”
• Biblical Response: The gospel is for all people (Matthew 28:19; Acts 17:30)

Questions 7-8: The Two Kingdoms and Two Types of Believers

7.1: How many kinds of gods (spirits) does the Bible mention? Into how many categories can the believers who belong to these gods be divided?

• SCJ Answer: Since there are two types of gods, there are two types of believers
• Biblical Assessment: Oversimplified; creates rigid binary that eliminates nuance
• Major Concern: Sets up “us vs. them” mentality where SCJ = God’s people, others = Satan’s people
• Biblical Response: While there is a spiritual conflict, believers are at various stages of maturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-3), and judgment belongs to God, not to us

7.2: Give five Bible references that explain the differences between God’s offspring and ordinary people

• SCJ Answer: Psalms 82:6-7; John 10:34-35; Acts 17:29; Genesis 6:1-3; Galatians 4:29
• Biblical Assessment: These passages are taken out of context to create a doctrine of two types of humans
• Major Concern: SCJ uses this to teach that only those who receive their “revealed word” become God’s true offspring
• Biblical Response: All humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); believers become God’s children through faith in Christ (John 1:12), not through joining an organization

8.1: The Bible divides both the spiritual and physical worlds into two types of kingdoms. What are those two types?

• SCJ Answer: God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom
• Biblical Assessment: Biblically true in a general sense
• Concern: SCJ will identify God’s kingdom exclusively with their organization and Satan’s kingdom with all other Christianity

8.2: Which two groups have been fighting all the battles throughout the 6,000 years of biblical history?

• SCJ Answer: The spirits and flesh that belong to God have been fighting against the spirits and flesh that belong to Satan
• Biblical Assessment: Oversimplified; ignores the complexity of spiritual warfare and human history
• Major Concern: Creates framework for viewing all opposition to SCJ as satanic
• Biblical Response: Spiritual warfare is primarily about resisting temptation, proclaiming truth, and enduring persecution (Ephesians 6:10-18), not about identifying enemy organizations

Question 9: The Conditions for Forgiveness

9.1: Give the three conditions people must meet for their sins to be forgiven

• SCJ Answer: (1) We must drink the blood of Jesus (Mt 26:28, Jn 6:53-57); (2) We must understand the parables (Mk 4:10-12); (3) We must keep the new covenant (Heb 8:10-12)
• Biblical Assessment: Major deviation from biblical gospel
• Major Concerns:
  • Makes understanding parables a condition for salvation (not biblical)
  • Redefines “drinking Jesus’ blood” as “knowing His words” (removes focus from atonement)
  • Makes “keeping the new covenant” a condition rather than a result of salvation (works-based)
• Biblical Response: Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9)

Questions 10.1-10.2: The Meaning of Israel

10.1: What is the biblical meaning of Israel? What evidence proves that a person has become Israel?

• SCJ Answer: Israel refers to the one who overcomes (i.e. the winner). The creation of the twelve tribes is the evidence.
• Biblical Assessment: Distorts the meaning of “Israel”
• Major Concerns:
  • Makes “Israel” refer to one individual (Lee Man-hee) rather than God’s people collectively
  • Claims “creating twelve tribes” is evidence someone is Israel (circular reasoning)
• Biblical Response: Israel is the people of God—first the physical descendants of Jacob, then all believers in Christ (Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 6:16)

10.2: What are the three types of Israel that appear in Bible according to their biblical eras?

• SCJ Answer: Physical Israel (OT), Spiritual Israel (First coming), New Spiritual Israel (Second coming)
• Biblical Assessment: Creates a category not found in Scripture
• Major Concern: “New Spiritual Israel” is SCJ’s term for their organization, implying the church is not the true Israel
• Biblical Response: The church IS the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:9); there is no “New Spiritual Israel” distinct from the church

Questions 11-25: The Parables and Figurative Language

These questions establish SCJ’s comprehensive symbol system. Rather than analyze each individually (which would require another 50+ pages), here are the key concerns:

Overall Problems:

1. Makes salvation dependent on understanding symbols: Question 11.2 explicitly states that those who don’t understand figurative language “do not receive salvation”
2. Creates rigid, context-free interpretations: Each symbol is given one fixed meaning that must be applied universally
3. Ignores literary and historical context: Treats all biblical literature the same way, regardless of genre or historical setting
4. Practices eisegesis, not exegesis: Reads SCJ’s organizational narrative into the text rather than drawing meaning from the text
5. Creates interpretive dependency: Students can no longer read the Bible independently
6. Validates SCJ’s narrative: Once the symbol system is accepted, SCJ’s interpretation of Revelation seems “obvious”

Biblical Response:

• Symbols in Scripture are context-dependent, not fixed
• Understanding comes through the Holy Spirit’s illumination (1 Corinthians 2:14), not through a special key
• Salvation is by faith in Christ, not by correct interpretation (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• The Bible is meant to be understood by all believers (2 Timothy 3:16-17), not just an elite group
• Interpretation should be done in community with other believers and the historic church, not by one organization claiming exclusive authority

Final Conclusion

The Introductory Level Test (Lesson 57) is not simply a Bible knowledge test. It is a carefully designed indoctrination tool that:

1. Begins with orthodox teaching to establish credibility
2. Introduces subtle deviations that prepare for later heresy
3. Creates binary thinking that isolates students from other Christians
4. Adds requirements to the gospel of grace
5. Redefines biblical terms to fit SCJ’s narrative
6. Establishes interpretive control that makes independent Bible reading impossible
7. Validates SCJ’s organizational history as prophetic fulfillment

By the time students achieve 90% and advance to the Intermediate Level, they have internalized a comprehensive system that will make SCJ’s explicit claims seem like natural conclusions rather than radical departures from biblical Christianity.

The antidote is simple: Return to the gospel.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

No tests required. No symbols to decode. No organization to join. No human mediator between you and God.

Just Christ.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

This is the truth that sets us free.

For more resources, testimonies, and support, visit: Closer Look Initiative – SCJ Examination https://closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)