Shincheonji Perspective
Shincheonji claims that the fulfillment of John chapters 14 – 16 is Lee Man Hee, the advocate who has the Spirit of Truth working through him.
Shincheonji believes that the Pentecost is only the fulfillment of Joel 2, and instead, the true fulfillment of Christ’s promises is through their leader, Lee Manhee, who received the open scroll from an angel on behalf of God and Jesus in the spring of 1980.
For this article, I will use the context of the chapter for John chapters 14-16.
Who: Who was Jesus speaking to?
It was clear that within the context of John chapters 14 – 16 , Jesus was speaking to the Disciples, as shown with John 13:36, 14:5, 16:29-30. Jesus promised not to abandon the Disciples but instead, when He returned to the Father, He would send them the “Helper” to kick start the Church of Christianity (John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7).
When did Jesus say this?
Jesus gave these promises on the night He was betrayed, before His crucifixion (John 13:1, John 18:1). Jesus told the Disciples that the Holy Spirit would come after He departed to the Father, and this was fulfilled starting with Acts 2:1-4, which also fulfilled Joel 2:28-32.
Where did Jesus say this?
Jesus gave these teachings in the upper room in Jerusalem, as seen in John 13:1-2.
Why is this important?
The Holy Spirit is a separate “person” than the Father or the Son.
Some Unitarians may try to make the argument that the “Holy Spirit” and the “Father” are the same person. However, John 14:16 states: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you [the Disciples] forever.” Similarly, John 15:26 says: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent
The Holy Spirit is able to be in multiple places at once, indwelling within the disciples and many others, as seen in the above verses. This shows an attribute of “omnipresence,” an exclusive attribute to God. John 14:16-17 states: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” We can see this attribute through the book of Acts: Acts 4:31 and Acts 10:44-45.
The Holy Spirit is singular, not “many angels or the Word”
SCJ sometimes interchanges the “word” with the “Spirit,” citing John 6:63. However, in the above verses, we can see that the two are not always interchangeable. It’s clear that in the above document, the referenced Holy Spirit isn’t just the “word”, and this is also why SCJ may interpret this same “advocate” to be the spirit that gives Lee Manhee the open scroll of Revelation 10.
What did Jesus say?
Before his crucifixion, Jesus was promising his Disciples that he would not abandon them. Instead, he was going to send them another helper, an advocate, who will help guide the disciples into all truth, since he was going away for a time to prepare a place for them in his father’s house.
There are a few things to take into consideration:
- Jesus promised to ask the Father to send “another Helper” to be with the disciples forever (John 14:16)
- Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would help the disciples in ways similar to how Jesus himself had helped them while on earth (John 14:26)
Jesus was promising the disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit. Within the context of John chapters 14 – 16, it is clear that the Holy Spirit isn’t a random Korean man 2000 years later.
We can also see the same Holy Spirit going and indwelling the other Christian believers who came to the faith in Christ
The Pentecost
We can also see that Jesus commanded the disciples to not leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples in
Acts 1:4-8 – Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
We can then see the Holy Spirit being given to the Disciples in Acts 2, which enables to speak different languages and grow the Christian Church.
Acts 2:38-39 – 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
We also begin to see the growth of the church expand to the Gentiles, including Cornelius, a Gentile convert alongside his family:
Acts 10:44-48 – 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the [b]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
Alongside Paul going to the Greeks to talk about Jesus Christ in Acts 17.
If the Disciples did not receive the Holy Spirit as was promised in John 14-16, then they would be disobeying Jesus’s direct commands.