Shincheonji Perspective
Shincheonji believes that the truth shortly fell away. Jesus is the light of the world (John 1:1-5, Psalm 119:130, John 9:4, John 12:46), and when He ascended into heaven, the “light” was no longer in the world and darkness began to overcome the world. We can see this in the book of Galatians, where Paul has to warn the congregation about the false teachers and how people are so quick to abandon the truth.
Doctrinal Issues
While it is true that Jesus is the light of the world, and that Shincheonji interprets the light to be the word of life, Shincheonji is also making the claim that as soon as Jesus left, the truth began to dissipate from the world.
This contradicts Jesus’s own teachings:
John 8:12 – 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
John 20:29 – Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
With the above verses, we can see how Jesus also claims that the followers of Christ are the light of the world. To suggest that as soon as Jesus leaves, the “light” disappears, meaning the word of truth and the actions that reflect the word of truth, would show Jesus to be a liar.
Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would guide the church into truth, and not just let his own sheep be abandoned for 2000 years, just to set up a trap for Satan.
John 16:13 – But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
While it is true that there would be a rise of false prophets, something that Jesus did warn about on numerous occasions, and something that the Apostles had to fight off, to make the claim that Jesus would allow them to overrun and cause His body to fall into complete darkness contradicts Jesus’s character.
Shincheonji’s belief about the 2000-year period of darkness leading to their movement’s emergence is a unique interpretation that seeks to explain the complexities of church history. However, this view raises questions when compared with traditional understandings of Jesus’ promises to his followers.
Conclusion
While it is true that Jesus is the light of the world, he made it explicitly clear that he would not abandon his sheep, and allow his sheep to stumble in darkness for over 2000 years.
According to Shincheonji theology, allowing the body of Christ to experience this darkness was necessary in order to eventually set up the Tabernacle Temple, their fulfillment of Revelation 1:20 and the church that would represent the Christian church, which SCJ refers to as “Spiritual Israel”. Through this sect, the devil and his schemes would be exposed, and thus allow Lee Manhee, the promised pastor of the New Testament, to set up the “New Heaven and New Earth”.