Shincheonji Recruitment Tactics
Shincheonji often recruits without revealing their true identities and their true beliefs until a student is more emersed within their 6 – 12 month bible study. At this time, Shincheonji is focusing on finding the 144,000 sealed priests, and thus, have the following requirements when determining whether or not a potential recruit is ready to “learn” the open word.
- Must be local or has a visa valid for at least 3 years (with the possibility to become a permanent resident)
- Christian or Catholic
- must be a University student or older
- Must not be spiritually rich
- those who do not have mental disorders such as depression
- those who are not LGBTQ
- those who are not too suspicious or skeptical about the group
Shincheonji recruits by offering Pastors and Christians “free non-denominational Bible Studies” either in person, or online.
Recruiting in Person
When recruiting in person, Shincheonji typically focuses on public gathering places like Malls, Walmarts, Targets, etc. and would approach strangers under the guise of a “questionnaire” or “survey”. The intent of the survey is to gather information about the target, and typically, the Shincheonji member is attempting to determine whether or not the target meets the above mentioned criteria.
The recruiter would get the target’s phone number, and invite the person to an innocent sounding Bible Study or Christian event, with the end goal in mind to get the target to join their Bible Study.
Recruiting Online
When recruiting online, Shincheonji is willing to also use similar tactics, but this time, setup Christian sounding social media accounts and dating apps. They present themselves as “non-denominational” Christians, and enter Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest, LinkedIn Christian groups in the attempt to recruit for their “non-denominational Bible Study”.
They also use online dating apps to recruit, including Tinder, Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, etc. as they have a mindset of the “ends justifying the means” in order to “save” someone from Satan, which ironically means that Shincheonji would use “wolf in sheep’s clothing” tactics to recruit while being unaware of the irony.
Shincheonji Bible Study
An SCJ Bible Study often makes an emphasis on the “parables” and the “secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven”. They make an emphasis on needing to know the parables in order to receive salvation, and also make an emphasis on “prophecy and fulfillment.”
They split the Bible into four different sections, with some permutations:
- Prophecy (Promises)
- Fulfillment (Promises kept)
- Moral Teachings
- History
They also make an emphasis on key verses like Isaiah 34:16, Hosea 12:10, Matthew 13:11-15, Matthew 13:35, and especially the Book of Revelation. They often claim to offer free Bible Studies that go from “Genesis to Revelation”. While it does sound appealing, often, the methods of twisting scripture often results in a distorted gospel message which loses the simplicity that Jesus offered, which is why the Bible Study lasts up to 6 to 9 months.
Shincheonji’s typical Bible Study includes the following parts:
- Bible Basics
- Parables
- Intermediate “Bible Logic”
- Advanced: The Book of Revelation
Internal Reporting
During the various stages of the Bible Study, the potential recruitee, also known as a “fruit”, is paired with a “leaf”. The purpose of the leaf is to spy and report on the progress of the “fruit”, often without the knowledge or consent of the person being recruited.
These reports are in a separate telegram group chat, often reporting on anything that the “fruit” may say or do that may “make them stumble”. Often, these group chats are also filled with private conversations, all without the fruit’s consent.
Examples of internal reporting can be found through the following articles:
Unethical Reporting and Potential Recruits
Internal Reporting: Leafs and Fruits
Wisdom of Hiding and Deception
Shincheonji recruits through the heavy use of the “wisdom of hiding”, offering a “free, non-denominational” Bible study targeting both Christians and Pastors.
Shincheonji has an “ends that justify the means” mindset when it comes to recruiting, heavily relying on the “wisdom of hiding”.
The wisdom of hiding can be split into two parts:
- Deliberately concealing information
- Redefining what a lie is
Deliberately concealing information
When confronted, an SCJ person will point to the first part of the definition of the “wisdom of hiding”, and point to how Jesus would sometimes withhold information from people, or tell his followers about not proclaiming that he’s the Messiah until after his death and resurrection.
Examples include:
Mark 8:27-30 – 27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the [a]Christ.” 30 And He [b]warned them to tell no one about Him.
Matthew 9:27-31 – 27 As Jesus went on from there, two men who were blind followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 And after He entered the house, the men who were blind came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “[a]It shall be done for you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that land.
Redefining what a lie is
While Shincheonji does acknowledge that lying for your own benefit goes against scripture, they also believe that lying to further God’s kingdom is justified, as long as a person does not add or subtract to God’s word (Revelation 22:18-19, Proverbs 30:5-6).
Adding and subtracting?
The Bible, particularly the book of Revelation, should be interpreted as a prophetic message, and deviating from the interpretation given by the “promised pastor” is strongly cautioned against.
What does it mean to add and subtract to God’s word?
Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, page 563 – “Ignoring the book of Revelation or partially interpreting it is the same as subtracting from it. Interpreting Revelation according to one’s own thoughts or imagination is the same as adding to it. Those who do not know Revelation, those who know it only in part, and those who misinterpret it are the people who add to or subtract from Revelation. This is why believers must learn the entire book of Revelation from the promised pastor (Rv 1:1-3, Rv 10).”
Anything that contradicts the interpretation given by the “Promised Pastor”, especially the book of Revelation, is “adding and subtracting” to God’s word.
Since Lee Manhee, the “Promised Pastor”, received the fulfillment of Revelation and the complete understanding of the Book of Revelation and even became a “walking Bible”, anyone who contradicts what Lee Manhee says is “adding and subtracting” and therefore breaking Revelation 22:18-19.
To summarize, SCJ redefines what a lie is by claiming that as one doesn’t add or subtract from Lee Manhee’s commentary on the Bible, everything else is fair game.
Bible Study and Internal Spying
When a person joins an SCJ Bible Study, at least half of the students in the class are pretending to be “first time students”, in order to report on the new students.
The current SCJ spies are known as “leafs”, and the new students are known as “fruits”.
The leaf reports anything and everything that may prevent a new student from continuing the Bible Study. The purpose of the leaf is to befriend the new student, gain their trust, and report any deviant thought that may go against the Bible Study.
The leaf is also supposed to “match” the level of understanding as the fruit, so that they can also pretend to be “amazed” at the “new teachings”. This is an example of the Asch Conformity Test being applied to their Bible Studies.
Shincheonji has infiltrated churches all over the world, pretending to be a Christian ministry trying to offer a free seminar theology degree to both Pastors and everyday Christians.
Church Infiltration and Free Seminary
Some of their Pastoral front groups include:
One Logos Theological Seminary (OLTS, Seminario Teológico de One Logos)
DC Seminary (Washington DC Theological Seminary)
South Africa Equipped Bible Study
They also infiltrate churches throughout the world, pretending to be a “Christian” organization while inviting pastors and their congregants to their free “Christian” seminaries.
This has been happening throughout the entire world:
Pastor House, Upstate New York:
Pastor Narashima Rao Paul India:
Pastor William Chuong, New Zealand
This is a global issue, and this is happening everywhere.
Testimony of former members
When it comes to their Bible Studies, SCJ still heavily relies on the “wisdom of hiding”. While there are some cases that they are more straight forward about who they are, there are still many testimonies of former students speaking out against Shincheonji and their deceptive practices.
The article discusses the controversy surrounding the Shincheonji Church’s application to convert its West Leederville building into an “education establishment” in Perth, Australia. Opponents, including parents of church members, argue that the organization operates as a high-control group or cult, targeting vulnerable individuals under the guise of Bible studies. Critics claim the church’s educational claims are misleading and lack recognized qualifications, while local residents express concerns about noise and parking issues. Despite these objections, Town of Cambridge staff have recommended approving the application with restrictions, and the council is set to make a decision on July 23.