View of Jesus
Shincheonji denies the Trinity, denies the Deity of Jesus, denies Christ’s pre-existence and that he was only an “idea”, or the fulfillment and manifestation of God’s salvation plan, and denies Christ’s bodily resurrection in the sense that when he returned to the Father and was covered by a cloud in Acts 1:9-11, he became a Spirit body, and denies His future glorious Second Coming.
Deity of Christ
Shincheonji regards Jesus as the uniquely “begotten” Son of God, interpreting this to mean that He holds a special status as an exalted creature rather than being co-equal with God the Father. They believe that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies as the promised Messiah. In this view, Jesus embodies the perfect “image” or “imprint” of God, serving as God’s ultimate agent or prophet in human form, but does not possess the exclusive divine attributes such as omnipresence or omnipotence that define God Himself. This interpretation aligns with their understanding of passages like Colossians 1:15, which refers to Jesus as the “image of the invisible God.”
Pre-existence of Christ
Shincheonji denies the pre-existence of Christ. When confronted with verses like John 1:1-14 for example, they would make an Unitarian argument, claiming that God’s Word, the salvation plan, is manifested by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Promise of God, but Jesus is not God himself.
Shincheonji believes that Jesus resurrected physically at first, but, when he returned to the Father, he returned in a Spirit body.
They cite the fact that God is in Spirit, John 4:24, and how flesh cannot enter the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50), alongside how Jesus is now preaching to the imprisoned Spirits, referencing 1 Peter 3:18-19, and 1 Peter 4:6.
Jesus became a Spirit body when he ascended into heaven, and was covered by a cloud in Acts 1:9-11.
Virgin Birth
Shincheonji does believe in the virgin birth, because then he was not corrupted with the seed of man, resulting in having a sin nature through the original sin of Adam.
Spiritual Marriage
Shincheonji believes that the Father “spiritually married” the son. What this means is that the Father indwelled within the body of Jesus, and they became “one” in terms of united in purpose and will. However, when citing that verse of John 10:30, Shincheonji does not believe that the Father and Jesus are “one” in nature; Jesus is still a human, while the Father is God and in Spirit.
They believe that Jesus is the perfect “image” of God, similar to how mankind is born of the image of God (Genesis 1:26), but is still a human being and a creature.