Lee Manhee clearly exalts himself by inserting himself as the “New John” of the Book of Revelation, which in turn makes the Book of Revelation more about the “New John” instead of Jesus Christ.

We can see this with just _some_ of the below interpretations:

• He claims to be the white horse Jesus rides in Revelation 19.

• He calls himself the pillar in God’s temple (Rev. 3:12).

• He teaches that he is spiritually married to Jesus, positioning himself as the unique mediator of salvation.

In his book The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation (p. 11), he writes:

Today, Revelation is being fulfilled, and salvation can only be obtained through the promised one who overcomes (Rv 2–3, Rv 21:7). People who deny this do not believe Jesus or his words and are controlled by evil spirits.

By claiming that rejection of his testimony equals rejection of Jesus, Lee is exalting himself in the very seat of Christ.

Paul warned the Thessalonians to be on guard against false claims of authority, saying:

2 Thessalonians 2:2 – “Do not become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter.”

In other words, Paul anticipated that some would misuse his name or claim divine backing to lend credibility to their own teaching. His instruction was simple: do not be deceived by those who present themselves as speaking “for” Christ or the apostles when in reality they are twisting the truth.

Yet this is precisely what Lee Man-Hee has done. He boasts that he wrote letters on behalf of Jesus to the seven messengers in Gwacheon, South Korea, as if his pen carried the same authority as the apostles. He has continued this practice by sending out letters in which he testifies against “Babylon” , his label for the global church — treating his words as if they were the very words of Christ Himself. In this way, Lee assumes an authority that Scripture never grants him, placing his writings alongside or even above the New Testament.

This is exactly the kind of deception Paul warned against. By presenting his personal testimony and commentary as if they were divinely dictated letters from Christ, Lee positions himself as a new apostolic voice. But Paul’s warning makes clear that Christians must not be unsettled or misled by such claims. Far from being a sign of true authority, Lee’s actions expose him as a fulfillment of the very danger Paul foresaw.

Shincheonji condemns the same church that Jesus claims to be the pillar of truth (1 Timothy 3:15) and that the gates of hades will not overcome the church (Matthew 16:18). Despite the obvious contradictions, Lee Manhee still condemns the church.

A core feature of Shincheonji’s teaching is the blanket condemnation of all other churches and denominations as false, corrupt, and under Satan’s control. In The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation (p. 84), Lee writes:

“Christianity is full of people shouting these lies; it has become thoroughly corrupt.”

He goes even further in his accusations on page 408:

“The kings of the earth who commit sexual immorality with the prostitute are the pastors of the denominations that belong to Satan. The inhabitants of the earth who are drunk with the wine of the prostitute’s immorality are the congregation members of their churches.”

According to Shincheonji, then, every pastor outside their movement is a servant of Satan, and every church member in the world belongs to Babylon the prostitute. By this reasoning, Shincheonji alone is pure, and Lee himself becomes the only source of truth and salvation.

This is not a biblical posture. Christ warns against this very kind of self-exaltation. Just as the Pharisees and teachers of the law sat in Moses’ seat (Matt. 23:2), claiming unique authority to interpret the Scriptures while condemning all others, Lee has placed himself in what he calls the “seat of Jesus.” He positions himself not simply as a teacher within the church but as the exclusive mediator of God’s truth against a world supposedly filled with lies.

In doing so, Lee commits the same sin that Jesus denounced in the religious leaders of His day — using claims of authority to shut others out of the kingdom of God while elevating themselves above all others (cf. Matt. 23:13). Instead of pointing believers to the sufficiency of Christ, Shincheonji insists that salvation is impossible apart from Lee’s testimony. This is the very opposite of the humility and servant-leadership modeled by Christ and His apostles.

Shincheonji frequently points to 2 Thessalonians 2:3, insisting that mainstream Christianity has fallen into the apostasy Paul warned about. Yet when their claims are examined in light of Scripture, it becomes evident that they themselves are the ones fulfilling Paul’s warning.

The word translated “apostasy” (apostasia) literally means a departure from the truth. Rather than guarding the faith once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 1:3), Shincheonji has departed from it, exchanging the sufficiency of Christ for the testimony of Lee Man-Hee. Their gospel is no longer centered on Jesus’ finished work on the cross, but on Lee’s commentary, visions, and claims of spiritual authority.

Paul’s words in Galatians 1:6–9 directly apply here:

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… 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!

Lee claims that in 1980 an angel gave him the “open scroll,” a supposed new revelation for a new era. But Paul’s warning makes it clear: no matter how impressive the messenger, a gospel that adds to or departs from the one already given through Christ and His apostles is a false gospel under God’s curse.

Furthermore, Shincheonji attempts to avoid this warning by teaching that different “eras” require different revelations. But Scripture itself denies this. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 affirms that all Scripture is God-breathed and sufficient for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” God’s Word is timeless and complete — not bound to an “era,” and certainly not awaiting supplementation from a modern Korean pastor.

By replacing the eternal gospel with Lee’s testimony and commentary, Shincheonji has committed the very apostasia Paul warned against. Instead of preserving the faith, they have departed from it, and in doing so they demonstrate that the true apostasy is not found in historic Christianity, but in Shincheonji itself.

Far from exposing the “man of lawlessness,” Shincheonji has become the very embodiment of Paul’s warning in 2 Thessalonians 2. Lee Man-Hee exalts himself in the place of Christ, claiming to be the white horse of Revelation, the pillar in God’s temple, and the spiritual bride of Jesus. He writes letters as if from Christ, directing them to churches and leaders while presenting his own testimony as divine revelation. He condemns the global body of Christ as Babylon, labeling every pastor outside Shincheonji as an agent of Satan and every believer outside his movement as a child of the prostitute. And most dangerously, he replaces the once-for-all gospel delivered through Jesus and His apostles with “another gospel” supposedly revealed by an angel in 1980.

Paul warned the church not to be deceived by false prophecies, letters, or teachers claiming apostolic authority. He cautioned that a great rebellion would come, led by one who exalts himself in God’s temple, setting himself in the very seat of Christ. By elevating his own testimony above Scripture, demanding allegiance to himself as the condition of salvation, and declaring war on the universal church, Lee Man-Hee has stepped into the very role Paul described.

This aligns also with John’s warning:

1 John 2:18 – “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

John explains that the spirit of antichrist is not limited to one figure in the future, but is revealed whenever individuals deny Christ’s sufficiency and set themselves up as savior figures. In this sense, Lee Man-Hee reflects the very spirit of antichrist — claiming exclusive access to salvation, rejecting the gospel once for all delivered, and exalting himself above the church of God.

The prophecy of 2 Thessalonians 2 is not fulfilled by traditional Christianity, as Shincheonji claims. Rather, it is fulfilled in the actions, claims, and teachings of Shincheonji itself. In seeking to expose apostasy, they have become the apostasy. In claiming to reveal the man of lawlessness, they have revealed him in their own leader. And in offering salvation, they have departed from the only true Savior, Jesus Christ, who alone is able to save completely all who come to God through Him (Heb. 7:25).

Peter warned believers that false teachers would take what is difficult to understand in Scripture and distort it for their own ends:

2 Peter 3:16 – “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

This warning fits precisely with how Shincheonji operates. Lee Man-Hee does not claim to have “known all the details” from the beginning and has even admitted that he can “make mistakes” regarding his supposed fulfillment of prophecy. In practice, this means that SCJ’s doctrines are not fixed, but can be reinterpreted or revised whenever Lee declares it necessary. These revisions are justified under the language of “food at the proper time” (Matt. 24:45), as if new explanations or corrections are simply a fresh provision from God.

The result is a constantly shifting theology in which Lee’s word, not Scripture, becomes the standard of truth. When earlier interpretations fail, new ones are supplied. When expectations are not met, explanations are adjusted. But Peter’s words make it clear that those who twist prophecy in this way do so “to their own destruction.” Rather than revealing the mysteries of God, Shincheonji demonstrates the very instability Peter warned about — distorting the Scriptures to fit their own narrative and conditioning followers to accept a gospel that is constantly in flux.

At the heart of Shincheonji’s teaching is the denial that Christ’s work is sufficient on its own. Scripture, however, speaks with clarity and finality.

Colossians 2:10 – “And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”

Paul wrote these words to Christians nearly 2,000 years ago. Believers were already brought to fullness in Christ, with no lack that required supplementation. If we have been made complete in Him, then there is no need for another “promised pastor” to finish what Christ supposedly left incomplete. To claim otherwise is to diminish the sufficiency of Christ and to place human authority where only Christ’s lordship belongs.

This sufficiency is also reflected in the worship of heaven. In Revelation 5:9–10, the “new song” is not about a Korean pastor or a future mediator but about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

The same “new song” appears again in Revelation 14:3, and it is tied directly to the eternal gospel proclaimed in Revelation 14:6. This gospel does not change with eras or depend on a new messenger. It is eternal because it is grounded in the once-for-all work of Christ.

By insisting that salvation requires belief in Lee Man-Hee’s testimony and commentary, Shincheonji denies the very fullness believers already have in Christ. They divert attention away from the Lamb who was slain and place it instead on the words of a man. In doing so, they not only distort the gospel but contradict the heavenly reality that all praise, all authority, and all sufficiency belong to Christ alone.