Conflating concealing information and Lying
Often, a Shincheonji member would also conflate the use of concealment as the “wisdom of hiding”, while being hesitant to admit during the first encounter of their actual definition of what it means to lie according to their commentary on the Bible.
This is something to keep in mind when discussing these passages with an SCJ member.
There is also a difference between concealing information, and then lying about your beliefs in order to recruit. For example, when hiding Jews from the Nazis, a Christian is allowed to withhold information and not tell the Nazis where the Jews are, as the Christian is protecting a life.
Or even in our everyday lives, there are times when a Christian may not talk about their faith, but instead work on their assigned tasks, and instead show the light of Christ through their actions.
There is a difference between withholding information, and then outright lying. Examples include:
- Pretending to be a “Christian” ministry, and then having doctrine that condemns Christianity to be filled with “Pastors who are drunk with maddening wine”.
- Lying about being a first time student in a class, and secretly reporting on the new student who you may have befriended.
Here are some of the SCJ front groups:
https://www.ziontheological.com/
https://www.ziontheologicalcenter.org/about-us
https://zionchristianseminary.org/
https://www.one-logos.org/about/beliefs
We can even see their leader, Lee Manhee, make the claim that he was never evangelized before starting Shincheonji, despite his involvement in the Olive Tree sect and Baek’s Recreation sect.