Stranger Things

QuotePaul J. Willis
willis@westmont.edu
23 November 2011

Some Thoughts on Manhee Lee, The Creation of Heaven and Earth
(Shinchonji Press, 2009)

I am impressed with Mr. Lee's familiarity with the terrain of the scriptures.  The crux of course comes with his interpretation of them, and with whether one can agree with his claims.  He complicates this process of discernment on almost every page by asserting that anyone who does not completely agree with him is destined for the lake of fire.  (He really likes that lake of fire, and he really likes sending all of his critics there.)  So, he can get a little shrill that way, both with people who do not wish to join his group and with people who wish to leave his group.  Those who leave "will receive seven more evil spirits regardless of whether they realize it" (351).  Those within the group are not allowed to associate with defectors, and defectors are not allowed to repent of their leaving and to return.  One might regard this set-up as simply a statement of "what is," or, one might regard it as evidence of coercion.

But I digress.  As I reflected upon Mr. Lee's approach to the scriptures, and of his election of himself as the key figure in whom the scriptures supposedly culminate, I thought about an episode in an eighteenth-century moral tale called Rasselas, by Samuel Johnson.  In the tale, a group of friends searching for truth happen upon an astronomer who has spent his entire life studying the movements of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.  Over the years, immersed in this study night after night, the astronomer has come to believe that the heavenly bodies only move in the proper way because he keeps track of them; without his guidance, the heavenly bodies would fall out of orbit and the universe would come apart.  This delusion is entertained gradually, but once it has taken hold, the astronomer is filled with a sense of responsibility and anxiety.  His new friends want to help him, but they are not able to talk him out of his delusion.  As he begins to enjoy their company, however, he finds that his delusion gradually melts away.

I have always found this a sweet and cautionary tale, and I think it may apply in the case of Mr. Lee.  I imagine him deeply immersed in the scriptures, especially the weirdly fascinating prophetic portions—and this would be only natural to him, as he has apparently spent almost all of his life in groups that pay special attention to these portions of the Bible.  I also imagine him deeply affected by the power of the scriptures, and wanting to appropriate that power for himself—to involve himself as deeply as possible in what he is reading.  And then, one day, caught up in the urgency of the apocalyptic events of the book of Revelation, his eye comes to rest on "the one who overcomes," and something in him says, "That's me."  And then he's off.  If he is "the one who overcomes," he can also be the son of the woman, one of the two witnesses, the white horse, the Advocate, and the Apostle John himself.  He can be "the promised pastor" who uniquely succeeds and carries out the will of Jesus.  And pretty soon, he's not just a bit character—he is the hero of the entire story.  In fact, without him, none of the events at the end of the age can take place.  He is in fact indispensable, just as the astronomer, in his own mind, becomes indispensable to the proper movements of the heavens.

The difference between the fictional astronomer and the quite literal Mr. Lee, however, is that the astronomer keeps his delusion to himself, while Mr. Lee uses his to build a public following.  And once he insists that everyone else must share his delusion, as I am calling it, an inflexible narcissism kicks in, and anyone who questions his bit of theological role-playing is blithely consigned to the lake of fire.

But question I will, asbestos air mattress at hand.

First, I question whether "the one who overcomes" refers to a particular person.  In fact, it does not.  In context, it refers to any believer of the historic seven churches of Asia Minor—and by extension, any subsequent believer—who, through the power of Christ, is able to overcome adversity or temptation.  Christ does not need a supposed "one who overcomes" to accomplish his return, and in donning this mantle Mr. Lee is not only taking a promise made to all and reserving it only for himself, but he is also changing that promise into something it is not, inventing a leading role for himself out of thin air.  His frequent objections to all biblical commentaries and to some biblical translations may stem from the fact that this misunderstanding regarding "the one who overcomes" is so easily resolved.   The NRSV, for example, in Rev. 2-3, has "to everyone who conquers" (3x), "whoever conquers" (1x), "if you conquer" (2x), and "to the one who conquers" (1x).

In claiming to be the unique embodiment of the Advocate promised in John 14-16, Mr. Lee is also taking a guarantee made to many and applying it only to himself.  Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit to his disciples—and by extension to all believers—but Mr. Lee would have us believe that the holy spirit (always lower-case for him, as he seems to regard the Holy Spirit as more of a function than a person) is only embodied in himself—and that this spirit has been effectively withheld for the last 2,000 years.  Again, there is a usurpation—a wrongful taking—of powers here.

Related to this is Mr. Lee's claim that he literally functions as the Apostle John as a receiver of revelation.  Just as John received a vision of the apocalypse, Mr. Lee claims to have received an even clearer vision of what he calls the "physical fulfillment" of these prophecies.  He in fact regards John the Apostle as only a "figure" for himself, for Mr. Lee is the actual one who eats the unsealed scroll and finally makes the book of Revelation clear to all.  Again, however, he is usurping a role.  The revelation given to John was written down for all to read, but by claiming that he is the "real" Apostle John, Mr. Lee invalidates 2,000 years of engagement with a historic text.  Access to divine truth is suddenly narrowed, and Mr. Lee becomes the only gatekeeper.

There is a pattern here, and it is not a pretty one.  It is one thing to play a children's game of pretend for oneself—and then to become so caught up in the game that one believes it for oneself.  (In the midst of my reading it is fun to imagine that I am Tom Sawyer, or Bilbo Baggins, or Tumnus the Faun.)  But it is quite another thing to inflict this game of pretend upon others.  (I'm Aslan, and you have to do what I say.)  That is when play becomes piracy.  What Mr. Lee has accomplished, intentionally or not, is a hijacking of the scriptures.

Finally, and over-archingly, Mr. Lee constructs a pattern of scriptural history to validate his anointed role.  Like many before him, Mr. Lee has noticed that God appears to reveal himself in different ways at different times.  There have been many efforts to systematize these different ways and steps of revelation, none completely satisfactory, given the fact that the scriptures are full of such living, squirming variety.  One of the most rigid ways was developed by a man named Darby in the nineteenth century, and it came to be called dispensationalism, because Darby regarded the Bible as recording a series of different dispensations of God's presence in a succession of covenants with his people.   

Mr. Lee takes Darby's general idea and shapes it in a particular way.  He perceives a rigid social pattern of betrayal, destruction, and then salvation through divine selection of "a new pastor," and he follows this pattern through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Jesus.  Most any other interpreter would stop here, with Jesus as the climax of God's revelation of himself, though of course the return of Christ would be taken into account as well.  Mr. Lee, however, uses the momentum he gains from unfolding this pattern to springboard the reader to a "new gospel" of "the promised pastor" in the end times.  To do this, he needs to exercise some sleight of hand to stipulate an expiration date for the "old gospel" of Jesus.

This is where he has to equivocate a little: on some pages of his book he extols the saving grace of Jesus made available through his death on the cross; on other pages he insists that salvation is only made available through "the promised pastor."  He has sort of painted himself into a corner.  It won't do to completely dismiss the work of Jesus, partly because Mr. Lee constructs his own authority on the basis of many messianic analogies, but at the same time he wants to convince us that he himself, Mr. Lee, is the new "savior," the one we must "believe in," that God's work is completely contingent upon Mr. Lee's appearance and upon his heroic acts.  Also, Mr. Lee would have us believe in an inflexible "logic" of this dispensational pattern: God can work in no other way, and this way culminates in the arrival of Mr. Lee.  He would not have us notice that the role of "the promised pastor" is one he has completely made up on his own.

Indeed, there is a certain impenetrable circularity to his logic.  How does Mr. Lee have, as he claims, "complete mastery" of the scriptures?  He will tell you it is because he is the one who overcomes and is thus given the hidden manna of the revealed word.  How does Mr. Lee know he is the one who overcomes?  Why, because he has complete mastery of the scriptures.

Finally, I will note in passing that he exercises this supposed mastery with an exegesis that often seems quite arbitrary.  In Mr. Lee's hands, for example, Genesis 1 becomes a figurative allegory for the end times.  The 144,000 who belong to the Lamb on Mt. Zion in Revelation 14, however, comprise a number that Mr. Lee takes quite literally.  His choice of a strangely literal interpretation or a heretofore unknown figurative interpretation of the scriptures does not seem to be guided by any consistent principle.  If there is a consistent principle, it is the promotion of his own status and purposes.   

So there you have it, my response in a nutshell to Mr. Lee's theology.  Samuel Johnson's astronomer could be cured of his delusion.  I doubt if Mr. Lee will be cured of his—though, on his approaching deathbed, it is possible to imagine him experiencing some pangs of conscience for having presumed so much and misled so many.

QuotePaul J. Willis
willis@westmont.edu

26 November 2011

Some Quotations from Manhee Lee, The Creation of Heaven and Earth (2009)

The following quotations are taken from Manhee Lee's book The Creation of Heaven and Earth, published by Shinchonji Press in South Korea.  The Korean version appeared in 2007, the English version in 2009.  These quotations highlight Mr. Lee's sense of himself as the messianic "promised pastor" or "the one who overcomes."  They also highlight his feelings about any who disagree with his teachings.  Mr. Lee is the founder of what he calls the Shinchonji Church of Jesus.  Shinchonji is Korean for "new heaven and earth."


"Now in this time of fulfillment, all believers must find the pastor, temple, and seminary promised by the Bible.  They must unite with God's promised pastor to attain salvation.  Jesus Christ's world of the first heaven has ended and a new heaven has been re-created.  Therefore, all believers must come out of their churches, which are part of the first heaven, and become a part of the twelve tribes of the new heaven.  They must all learn the new song to enter heaven" (vii).

"We are teaching the book of Revelation along with its physical fulfillment. . . .  Our revelation is the most perfect theological revelation in the entire history of Christianity!  We can explain the Bible clearly, even to those ignorant of the Bible, as long as they are willing to come and learn for six months.  This is true religion; this is the best and highest teaching.  This is the work of the holy spirit" (16).

"'The end of the age' [in Matthew 24] refers to the end of . . . the Christian world created by Jesus" (18).

"God and Satan fight in the spiritual world while the people that belong to God and the people that belong to Satan argue with one another in the physical world. . . .  Since Satan means divider and opposer, it should be obvious that anyone who breaks away from us and opposes us is Satan" (31).

"God makes . . . his chosen pastor rule over his chosen people—the children of light" (43).

"Shinchonji counts the first year of the Shinchonji Era from the year of the construction of the throne.  March 14, 1984, is the anniversary of Shinchonji.  In addition, 1984 was the year that the universe completed its orbit and returned to its point of origin" (44).

"Salvation comes from the promised pastor. . . .  This pastor carries out the work appointed to Apostle John in Revelation.  He witnesses the events of Revelation in physical reality and listens to an angel explain them to him.  He is the male child who will rule all nations after fighting and overcoming the enemies prophesied in Revelation.  He receives the scroll opened by Jesus and teaches it to [all] peoples. . . .  God, Jesus, and the spiritual kingdom descend on this pastor and work through him" (54).

"When the promised pastor appears, everyone must go to him" (54).

"After Jesus ascended to heaven, God promised to send his next promised pastor and the spirit of truth" (55).

"The second advocate—the spirit that comes in the name of Jesus—will reside in a man and speak on Jesus' behalf through that man's lips. . . .  The mission of the spirit of truth (i.e. the advocate) is to speak Jesus' words on behalf of Jesus through the lips of the promised pastor" (77-78).

"The one who overcomes will become God's son and receive God's inheritance" (79).

"God was with Jacob because he overcame.  God was with Jesus because he overcame.  In the same way, God will be with the one who overcomes, who is promised in Revelation" (80).

"Jesus has shown and explained everything to him alone" (82).

"The prophecies of the four gospels and Revelation make up the new covenant that will be fulfilled in the future.  They are the representative word of the New Testament" (115-16).

"If the believers in the generation of the New Testament cannot keep the commands of the new covenant, they too will be destroyed like the people of the Old Testament generation" (116).

"[In the Old Testament,] the chosen people that left God were brutally destroyed" (358).

"Today, most Christians think that by simply believing in Jesus, they have been saved and have already received the holy spirit.  This misunderstanding leads to idleness" (132).

"[Jesus] will return in spirit to unite with his promised pastor" (143).

"Today's pastors will persecute the promised pastor as a cult leader in the same way the Jewish priests persecuted Jesus. . . .  Because the promised pastor is one with Jesus, persecuting him is persecuting Jesus Christ" (143).

"Is it not clear that today's churches are even more corrupt than the Catholic Church was at the time of its reformation?  How will today's pastors react if Jesus chooses a pastor to proclaim the truth and decisively start a new reformation? . . . Can they be called believers in the promises of Jesus if they mock the pastor chosen in the Bible?" (144).

"Today, Spiritual Israel [the Christian world] has come to an end, roughly 2,000 years since Jesus planted the seed of heaven.  It is now time for New Spiritual Israel, which is the generation of Shinchonji, to create God's kingdom on earth by harvesting the wheat-like believers (church members)" (145).

"The words of prophecy in God's sealed book are now opened.  The prophecies are currently being fulfilled today.  Now is the time for us to look for the new pastor, the promised pastor" (147).

"The few people that God actually chooses are more important to him than anyone or anything else" (155).

"The New Testament promises one pastor that will be introduced in the last days" (159).

"Many people think they are saved just by believing in Jesus. . . .  Ultimately, people who fail to follow the one promised pastor sent by Jesus do not really believe in Jesus.  They claim to be believers, but the God they believe in is a figment of their own imaginations" (159).

"The pastor that Jesus promised in the New Testament is figuratively called Apostle John in Revelation" (162).

"When the end of the age (i.e. the time of the second coming of Jesus) comes, it is no longer enough just to know God and Jesus.  Believers must also know the pastor promised in the New Testament.  . .  When the promised pastor comes, [all other] pastors should hand the sheep they have cared for over to him" (164).

"Can the current corrupted Christian world be considered a true religion?  Its people are crying out for another reformation" (169).

"We now know that the first coming [of Jesus] was not even the end of God's work" (171).

"The book of Revelation figuratively uses Apostle John to prophesy about the promised pastor" (176).

"The events of betrayal and destruction in the prophecies of the New Testament exist to testify about the promised pastor who acts as the savior" (177).

"It is not an exaggeration to say that God's ultimate purpose in giving us the sixty-six books of the Bible was to lead us to the new heaven and new earth—to Shinchonji" (178).

"Jesus, who is returning, chooses and anoints one pastor" (178).

"The main character serving the Lord in the book of Revelation is the one who overcomes—the one who is promised in Revelation 2-3.  The first step for believers wishing to attain their hope is seeking the promised pastor who overcomes according to the book of Revelation" (179).

"When God fulfills the secret promises, he always reveals them to his chosen pastor before fulfilling them" (181).

"Anyone who fails to acknowledge the physical fulfillment when it comes according to prophecy proves that he or she does not believe in God, Jesus, or the Bible" (182).

"Jesus will come to the pastor promised in the New Testament and fulfill the New Testament prophecies through him. . . .  Believers on whom the end of the age has come must find and unite with the pastor Jesus promised" (182).

"All believers must find the one who overcomes—the pastor promised in Revelation 2-3—in order to attain heaven and eternal life. . . .  Anyone who dallies in accomplishing this task or who interferes with someone else proves that they belong to the devil" (187-88).

"These events of Revelation 2-3 . . . have already taken place at the base of Cheonggye mountain, which is in the city of Gwacheon, Gyeonggi province, Republic of Korea" (188).

"All pastors became blind and deaf when God's book of revelation was sealed" (190).

"[The events of Revelation 5-6] were fulfilled at the base of Cheonggye mountain in Gwacheon" (193).

"God brings the first heaven and earth to an end by judging Spiritual Israel [the Christian world] (Revelation 5).  [Then] God creates a new chosen people. . . .  At the time of Revelation's fulfillment, anyone who does not belong to the twelve tribes of New Spiritual Israel, which are God's only chosen people, is a gentile who cannot be saved" (195).

"No one can know the fulfillment of the prophecies in revelation without meeting the promised pastor" (204).

"It is no exaggeration to say that the New Testament only testifies about this one male child [in Revelation 12].  God's revelation, grace, and word are delivered to and explained by the one male child who overcomes. . . .  No one who believes in Revelation 2-3 can deny this" (215).

"There are many churches in the world, but there are no other true temples" (227).

"Those who overcome and gather at the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony store God's wrath in their hearts.  The angels come to the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony and use those who overcome as bowls of God's wrath" (227-28).

"Evil spirits enter people who receive the laying on of hands from or believe in the words of a false pastor" (232).

"Today, [as prophesied in Revelation 17-18,] the world of Christianity comes to an end and all nations are destroyed because of the maddening wine of adultery" (239).

"All the churches in this world are spiritually destroyed by the teachings (biblical commentaries) that the prostitute claims to be truth" (240).

"In the end times, God and Jesus will reign over the nations through the pastor Jesus promised" (247).

"[In Revelation 19,] the spirits [of the martyrs] that have lost their bodies for the sake of the Lord will clothe themselves with our physical bodies and be resurrected" (253).

"[Those in the holy city in the millennium] cannot be deceived because they have mastered the Bible and live together with the souls of the martyrs and with Jesus Christ" (254).

"No one who reads this book should be like Lot's wife, who tried to return to the previous world that was judged" (265).

"The location of the one who overcomes is the throne of God and of Jesus.  And conversely, God, Jesus, the word of life, the ability to be born again, heaven, and eternal life are not present in any place that does not have the promised one who overcomes.  Consequently, this one who overcomes that is promised in the New Testament is the person whom all believers of Jesus must find" (269-70).

Pastors "who lack understanding" and who withhold members of their congregations from the promised pastor are "dogs" (272-73, 309).

"It is not possible for the water of life to flow from a place that charges money to teach the Bible. . . .  Zion Mission Center . . . teaches the word free of charge" (274).

"[In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, the rocky ground that prevents the growth of the seeds represents people close to Shinchonji believers who call Shinchonji a cult.]  They persecute instead of carefully examining the word for themselves.  They see no reason to learn the word if they faithfully attend church services.  The devil works through the people close to us in any way he can" (293).

"[The parable of the weeds among the wheat in Matthew 13 tells us that] the word of God is mixed with the word of Satan within the churches of Jesus" (300).

"Jesus will come again after the chosen people—the Christians—betray and are destroyed by gentile pastors (Revelation 13)" (305).

"Anyone who opposes Shinchonji is evil" (321).

"Today, believers of the New Testament period eat the gospel of Jesus Christ as spiritual food.  At the same time, however, they live their spiritual lives through another faith that is to be revealed. . . .  This revealed faith is Jesus' new gospel. . . .  Having the revealed faith is receiving and believing in [the testimony of the promised pastor]" (330-331).

"It is no exaggeration to say that the New Testament testifies about the one pastor Jesus promised" (337).

"Today, people within Schinchonji who have been cleansed by the word only to fall into unbelief will receive seven more evil spirits regardless of whether they realize it. . . .  It is impossible for a person who has tested the powers of the coming age to be brought back to repentance if they fall away" (351).

"Goat-like believers eat biblical commentaries, which are the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (353-54).

"Those who have left their positions and homes within the twelve tribes of Shinchonji to deceive, cause division, create their own sects, and oppose God are antichrists that have united with the spirit of Satan.  Anyone who receives this kind of person becomes a part of their group" (354).

"To whom will [Jesus] come when he returns?  He comes to the pastor promised in the New Testament, the one who overcomes" (355).

"The pastor who fulfills the mission of John recorded in revelation is the only orthodox pastor. . . .  This church and pastor are the only ones who are truly orthodox" (370).

"Children of darkness . . . include believers who are trying to live their lives of faith without understanding God's word" (373).

"When Jesus (i.e. the word, the light, and the path) returns to this world in the second coming, it is as if the sun, which had set in the west, rises again in the east after a long, hard night (approximately 2,000 years)" (375).

"There is no rule excluding Korea from being the place where the sun rises.  There is no scripture that proves Korea cannot be the place where the sun rises" (194).

"Let us become the living water for the hearts of those who have been thirsty for 2,000 years" (375).

"The events of Revelation . . . can also be thought of as the events when Christianity comes to an end" (388).

"Believers should not be like Eve by unconditionally receiving and eating the words of their pastors" (389).

"At the time of the Lord's return, there will be inward believers like sheep and outward believers like goats" (394).

"People insisting without reservation that they have already been saved and that they have received the holy spirit, and people who claim to be orthodox while persecuting others as cults are speaking nothing but lies.  The ideology of Calvinism . . . is the ideology of Satan" (398).

[At the end of the age, Jesus comes] riding on a cloud.  In other words Jesus comes as a spirit . . . to work with his angels through the chosen pastor and his disciples to establish the nation promised in the New Testament" (404).

"Anyone who denies the one sent by God and Jesus is an antichrist" (410).

"[The battles of Revelation 13 and 12] have already taken place. . . .  Even now, the war continues" (421).

"The secular words spoken by today's churches provide ample evidence that they belong to the world" (422).

"Those who refuse to believe in the events of Revelation, the promised pastor, and the promised temple—those who reject God's will by believing only in their own pastor and their own church—these people cannot receive salvation" (423).

"The holy spirit of the Father came and spoke through Jesus.  Today, the spirit of the advocate (i.e. the holy spirit) has already come in the name of Jesus. . . .  The holy spirit who acts as the spiritual advocate is inside the chosen pastor who is the physical advocate" (426).

"The Old Testament testifies about one person—Jesus Christ.  The New Testament also testifies about one person—the advocate, who is the one who overcomes and the one who eats the opened scroll.  It is only when a person believes in the promised pastor and keeps the words of his testimony that he or she can attain salvation" (429).

"[Both Jesus Christ and the promised pastor] overcame the world. . . .  [The promised pastor] overcomes the pastors of Satan.  Although Jesus overcame Satan in the spiritual world, without someone who fights and overcomes Satan's pastors in the physical world, God's kingdom, salvation, power, and authority cannot come, [and] this world would belong to Satan forever" (430).

"[The one who overcomes] sits with Jesus on Jesus' throne" (432).

"All churches have left Jesus' words and have become corrupt" (449).

"Since the words and doctrines of Satan are in the church, it is the Christians, and not the unbelievers or people of other religions, who must take care to avoid Satan's doctrines" (453).

"Become a part of the army of heaven" (471).

"Believers facing the end of the age must try and be born again through righteous acts and God's word in order to become the people of heaven" (474).

"[Shinchonji is] giving . . . the new blood and flesh of Jesus" (476).

"Because . . . the content of John's revelation was sealed, no one knew what it meant until today" (493).

"Clearly, it is only by listening to the one who has received revelation from Jesus that believers can know God, Jesus, and the pastor sent by Jesus.  This is the only path to eternal life" (494).

"t is more important to understand the contents of Revelation than anything else" (498).

"When Satan enters a pastor he or she becomes Satan" (501).

"No one who is consumed by a literal understanding of the Bible can understand the words that Jesus spoke figuratively.  These people cannot be a part of God's kingdom; they are outsiders. . . .  They become wicked beasts that can never receive forgiveness for their sins" (502).

"We, Shinchonji, . . . know who belongs to God and who belongs to Satan" (504).

"People who receive the mark of the beast are those who listen to the teachings of the beast [i.e. those who listen to ordained pastors], receive them into their hearts, and believe them.  These people will suffer eternally in the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (504).

"[Satan's] false pastors disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (504-05).

"Christians must believe that Jesus' promised return occurs according to this logic of betrayal, destruction, and salvation" (510).

"The holy city will exist forever because those who dwell within this city have united with Jesus and with the spirits of the martyrs" (515).

"[In Revelation 11,] the era of Christianity (the first heaven) comes to an end, and the era of the millennium (the new heaven) begins" (517).

"[In the millennium, the souls of the martyrs will enter the bodies of sealed believers to] reign as kings with Christ for 1,000 years. . . .  Jesus died to accomplish this work, and now he has become a spirit to work within us" (522).

"Because Satan has deceived all nations (Christians), now is the time of Jesus' second coming" (525).

"No other church name can even compare to the name Shinchonji" (544).

"We, the people of Shinchonji, are certain of the way in which we have fulfilled and are fulfilling the book of Revelation" (546).

"[The persecutors of Shinchonji are] the true heretics, . . . the troops of Satan. . . .  The corrupt and aging generation of Spiritual Israel is being destroyed" (551).

"Approximately 2,000 years after [Jesus'] prophecies were made, their fulfillment began at the base of Cheonggye mountain. . . .  Today, with just a few remaining exceptions, the prophecies of the New Testament have been fulfilled.  Since the harvest is not yet finished, the sealing of the 144,000 people of the twelve tribes is still taking place" (558).

"Just as God summarized 6,000 years of history in one book, the Bible, I have summarized the entire Bible in this book" (563).

"Anyone who does not believe in the prophecies and their fulfillment does not believe in God. . . .  Anyone who hears the testimony about the fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies and refuses to believe it will be destroyed, just like the people in the time of Adam and Lot" (564).

QuotePolice in Daegu formed a special taskforce on Sunday to locate over 600 Shincheonji members who are believed to have come into contact with the 31st confirmed case of infection, who is considered a "supercarrier," but have gone to ground without responding to phone calls and text messages from health officials.

QuoteThe church denied reports that members were told to lie about recent services. The church said it was not an official order from the leadership but a "personal message" from one member. ...

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the woman initially refused doctors' requests that she be tested for the virus on the grounds that she had not traveled abroad recently. The church denied media reports that the woman assaulted nurses and created a commotion with fellow church members at the hospital.

QuoteHe also recalled spending a lot of time in church on weekdays, joining small groups to study the Bible in crowded, confined spaces. Another former member, who left the church in 2015, told the New York Times that they were trained to sing hymns loudly and not wear anything on their faces, such as glasses or masks. They were also trained not to fear illnesses, he added.

"We were taught not to care about such worldly things like jobs, ambition or passion. Everything was focused on proselytising, even when we were sick."

QuoteThe Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency mobilized some 600 officers to locate those followers who are still unaccounted for.  The group's spokesperson said they (typo? there) were about 260 who are out of touch.

Quote"This disease case is seen as the devil's deed to stop the rapid growth of Shincheonji," he wrote in the message, images of which were published by Yonhap news agency.

Quote"Her behavior is not surprising to people familiar with the church," said Chung Yun-seok, an expert on religious cults who runs the website Christian Portal News. "To them, getting sick is a sin because it prevents them from doing God's work."

QuoteAs Zimbabweans, how do we feel about our most senior judge flying to South Korea, wasting days of office time at a conference with no tangible or meaningful outcome, legitimising a religious cult and then allowing state media to praise his bold contributions to the cause of peace?

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku recently came back from Seoul, South Korea, where he represented Zimbabwe at the Proclamation of the Declaration of Peace and the Cessation of War, organised by a group calling itself Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light (HWPL), headed by one Man Hee Lee.

A Herald article from March 15 2016 claims "the quest for global peace and harmony escalated with the historic launch of the proclamation" and praises Chidyausiku's participation in the event.

The declaration described in the article is strangely vague. The speech by Man Hee Lee, which the Herald reports as groundbreaking peace-building policy, is full of statements that even a 12-year-old might make after first seeing a bomb blast reported on the evening news -- "wars are untenable", "the work of peace is a task someone must take on", "the declaration seeks to dispose the world of all armed conflicts". Although the sentiment is noble, the declaration ignores decades of peace-building work by policy-makers around the world, and ludicrously over-simplifies local and global politics.

The website for HWPL is as vague as the speech quoted in the Herald. HWPL's "vision for sustainable peace" states that if all the heads of state "sign an international agreement" and if all the youth "agree not to fight one another ... world peace will be restored". Again, these platitudes are so obvious that they are barely worth stating.

Moreover, humanity has not been at peace since Cain killed Abel, so there is nothing to restore. The website boasts about peace marches and conferences at which peace is declared, but provides very little concrete evidence of substantial work towards developing peace in any region of the world. Man Hee Lee has "traversed the globe 24 times, talking about peace", but there is no evidence of concrete work towards peace. There are plenty of photographs of him talking or posing, but he has never mediated a conflict or brokered a ceasefire anywhere.

More research about Man Hee Lee reveals that the elderly white-suited man is best known in South Korea, not as a herald of peace, but as the leader of a church called Shincheonji. As the leader of Shincheonji, Man Hee Lee teaches that after Jesus ascended to Heaven, God promised to anoint another pastor, who would prepare Christians for the Second Coming. Man Hee Lee claims to be that pastor and attracts people to his sect by convincing them that "when the Second Coming arrives it will not be enough to know only God and Jesus, believers must also know the pastor promised in the New Testament" (that is Man Hee Lee). His teaching demonises "the enemy", which is anyone who refuses to recognise that Man Hee Lee is the only true route to salvation, forcing many members to cut off contact with any family and friends who are not followers of Man Hee Lee.

As God's anointed pastor, Man Hee Lee expects absolute obedience from his followers. He instructs them to limit their sleep, in order to devote more time to prayer and to studying his doctrine. The widespread sleep deprivation makes the congregation easier to frighten and emotionally manipulate. They study his teachings and his version of the Bible for four or five days a week in groups, managed by minders, who report disobedience to church elders.

Every person in Shincheonji is expected to attend three or four-hour services on Wednesdays and Sundays. Many Shincheonji branches use a digital fingerprint recognition register to ensure that every person is present. Followers are strongly urged to give up their jobs or studies in order to devote their lives entirely to the church. They are also encouraged to give up all of their savings to their leaders, leaving them completely reliant on the church community.

One of the key requirements for becoming a core member and guaranteed salvation in the Second Coming, is recruiting new members for Shincheonji. The sect became very unpopular in South Korea because members would infiltrate other churches and attract the members away from their congregations.

Many churches in South Korea have signs explicitly forbidding Shincheonji members. Shincheonji events in South Korea have to be protected by special internal church security forces, because they invariably attract protests from people who have lost family members to the cult. The government of South Korea has banned Shincheonji from advertising in local media.

The sect's deep unpopularity in South Korea meant that Man Hee Lee had to develop a new strategy for generating positive publicity for Shincheonji. He founded a "volunteer" organisation called Mannam to target foreigners. The organisation explicitly claimed not to be religious, but the key leadership was identical to Shincheonji's. Mannam hosted peace walks and parties for foreigners in South Korea to demonstrate that the church had widespread support.

In 2012, Mannam advertised (in English) a World Peace Ceremony at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, to which it invited thousands of foreigners, with no mention of Shincheonji. In Korean, however, it advertised the Shincheonji 6th Olympiad, taking place at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, at the same day and time. By publicising the large foreign audience at the event, Shincheonji was able to argue that it is a globally relevant organisation.

However, many of the people conned into attending the 2012 Mannam event were angered and frightened when they realised the close links between Mannam and Shincheonji. Mannam was disbanded, but in 2014 a new organisation was founded under the name HWPL with Man Hee Lee as chairman. In 2014, they hosted the World Alliance of Religions for Peace Summit, inviting government and civil society leaders from around the world.

Although neither Shincheonji nor Mannam were mentioned in English at the summit, attendees noted that all of the South Korean participants made the Shincheonji hand signal (thumb and index finger extended) when cameras were pointed at them. Based on the invitations that they had received, many of the participants believed that they were going to Seoul to participate in discussions and workshops or to chair panels about issues relevant to peace building. However, there were no discussions -- the programme was dominated by peace marches and mass rallies with long speeches by Man Hee Lee.

In the speeches, Man Hee Lee's solution for world peace was for all people to unite and accept one religion -- his own. The participants were divided into small groups, each of which was closely monitored by a pair of minders, who forced the participants to attend every event and demanded that they look happy for the cameras.

QuoteAs the cat and mouse game between Shincheonji and the government continues, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin announced Friday he would press criminal charges against the operators of Shincheonji's Daegu church for "causing confusion" with the city's measures to contain the outbreak by refusing several times to submit the list of about 1,760 trainees living in Daegu. Kwon continued that the church also failed to submit the list of Shincheonji followers in Daegu who attend a different Shincheonji church outside the city, which amounts to about 222 people.

In an exclusive report Friday morning, the JoongAng Ilbo hinted at possible links between Shincheonji and a group of Catholics from North Gyeongsang who recently tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from a pilgrimage to Israel, saying that the son of a member of the Catholic group is a Shincheonji follower. The son and father both tested positive for the virus. The Euiseong County Office in North Gyeongsang told the paper Thursday that the son initially denied he was a Shincheonji adherent, but admitted it after county officials found him on the nationwide list of members.

QuoteIronically Lee himself has gone into hiding, and many followers also keep refusing to answer calls from health workers to show up for checkups. ... On Sunday, the spokesman said the sect has 245,000 followers, but it later only submitted a list of 215,000, raising suspicions about its candor.

QuoteOn Thursday, the government also requested the church to hand over a list of an additional 70,000 candidate members and their contact information. Shincheonji only "gives" membership to people who complete a seven-month-long training period. However, the church refused saying it was difficult to share the contact information of non-members....

Gyeonggi Governor Lee complained that the list obtained by the central government was incomplete, saying the number was far fewer than the one he obtained earlier, after officials entered a church facility without its consent to get a full list of members.

QuoteAccording to the transcript, the head of the Busan church said on Feb. 9, "You know about Wuhan pneumonia. Our district church is there. More than 700 people have died in China, while there are more than 30,000 confirmed cases. But not even one of our disciples has been infected. If we stand firmly by our beliefs, God will protect us." Followers respond with a resounding "Amen."

QuoteAccording to the Jeju government, 34 of the 603 Shincheonji members who responded to officials by phone Wednesday said they had shown symptoms such as fever and a cough. The officials said they have not been able to reach 43 others on the island.

Quote"Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Kang-lip said authorities requested the religious group submit a list of 70,000 trainees who had not been included on the previous list. "Previously, Shincheonji said that the trainees are not yet believers, so they have difficulty in providing a list," he said."

QuoteAccording to the sect's Daegu branch, 8 out of 10 followers who have underwent the virus test have been confirmed as having infections.

QuoteIn addition, a nursing home in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province saw one of its staff members confirmed to have the infection. The nurse is reportedly also a member of the Shincheonji Church, which has raised concerns among the health authorities that the home may become another infection hub as have Daenam Hospital and a facility for the disabled in Yecheon, both in North Gyeongsang Province.

QuoteUntil the confirmation of his infection, the officer had not notified the prison of the fact that he was a member of the Shincheonji Church and had participated in services of the minor Christian sect, continueing to work at the prison. Some 50 prison officers and prisoners, who had contact with the officer, have been isolated since the confirmation. This raises the likelihood that more infections could occur at the prison that houses about 400 inmates. ...

"They might have been more afraid of disclosing their membership than of the virus spreading," Busan Presbyterian University Professor Tark Ji-il said. "This shows how distorted beliefs can lead to a social problem. The members, especially those working in the public sector, should ensure that public safety is top priority."