SCJ prides itself in “unlocking the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” when it comes to their interpretation of the Bible, and more specifically Revelation.

When one doesn’t know the history of Man Hee Lee’s involvement with other sects in Korea, which I outlined here and his borrowed doctrines from the previous sects and how they all eventually lead up to the current set of SCJ teachings, they may appear to be a fresh take on the Bible. However, once one begins to compare and contrast SCJ’s literature with other Korean sects, it becomes clear that MHL was heavily influenced by the other cults around him.

A common defense when one points out that MHL was involved in numerous cults before starting SCJ is that he is only human and God can use anyone. After all, even Moses was a murderer before being chosen by God.

However, the issue is not that MHL was simply involved in cults, but that the doctrine of SCJ is taken directly from these cults and woven together with MHL at the center. One such instance of this is the use of parables to re-interpret the Bible. Let’s take a closer look at this fundamental aspect of SCJ doctrines originated in other cults.

One needs to be careful about approaching parables, because parables are easy to twist and manipulate, especially when you approach the Bible as a “parable dictionary”. Other sects in both the past and present use a similar approach to the metaphorical bible to eventually point the bible to their leader and group.

Here’s a good example of a parable that other Korean sects use that could also have differing meanings:

The parable of the Sun, Moon, and Stars:

SCJ teaches that the Sun, Moon, and Stars are about God’s chosen people and that when they darken and fall in both Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, it is a symbol of the end of the era of Christianity.

While this may seem convincing, I am willing to make the argument that this was also another borrowed doctrine.

The Unification Church, known as the Moonies, also made a similar argument, and the catch is that they have been around since the 1950s.

• https://www.unification.net/dp73/dp73-1-3.html#3.1
• “Here, for the Words to lose their light means that the period of their mission has elapsed with the coming of the new age.”

The Unification church also claims to have the open scroll, 30 years before SCJ was a reality.

The ‘parable’ of the cloud.

In SCJ, the argument goes that the cloud represents the invisible symbol of the spiritual world correct? Often, the next argument that S* would be about Matthew 17 and the transfiguration, or how God interacted with Moses in a cloud on Mt. Sinai, etc.

The WMSCOG, another Korean sect that also makes an emphasis on parables, then claims that the figurative meaning of a cloud is “flesh”, and how God will return in flesh on this earth.

You can read more about their other parable interpretations

• https://english.watv.org/truth/truth_life/content_cloud.asp

In order to back up their teachings that “clouds” figuratively represent flesh, WMSCOG then uses Hebrews 12:1 and Jude 1:12 to back up their claims.

The parable of the “new name”

WMSCOG also uses the parable of the name, and makes the argument that the new “name” points to 3 different eras, with each era God having a new name to worship with different flesh and people.

Ironically, both SCJ and WMSCOG point to a similar set of verses to justify their respective organizations, and you can also see more of their verses below:

• https://english.watv.org/truth/truth_life/content_secondcoming.asp

The parable of the Tree of Life

WMSCOG also injects their “word dictionary” of parables for the Tree of Life and their leader Ahn sahng-hong and how the entire Bible points to him and “Mother God” after building up their word dictionary. SCJ also makes a similar claim, saying that SCJ + MHL are the Tree of Life.

They both point to a similar set of verses talking about how people are figuratively represented by trees, and so are organizations. Does it mean that both orgs are wrong? The parable of the tree pointing to people is probably correct, and same with trees potentially pointing to organizations, however, notice how both WMSCOG + SCJ take it to the next step and then claim that they’re the tree of life, and all other groups aren’t?

They also point out the figurative references of Babylon.

These are just a few examples of why doing a metaphorical word dictionary of the Bible can easily lead to heresy or at least a very different meaning that would lead others down the path of different Christian sects.

People parables: New John / New Aaron Parable:

There was a sect in South America that had a leader who claimed to be a “New Aaron”, and as the name implies, was helping the lost sheep of Israel. As an SCJ member, how would you counter this person?

The issue is that God made it clear that he was going to send a Messiah to his people in the Old Testament. The “hidden secret” of a “Promised Pastor” is another claim that is ripe for abuse.

For this argument, I’m going to reference this page:

http://shinchonjiandthebible.blogspot.com/2010/06/question-for-manhee-lee-where-is-promise.html

The author does a better job at aligning his argument.

“What is the problem with this claim about a promised pastor?

First, a legitimate promise in the written word is one that everyone sees. Otherwise, it is not a true promise according to the written word (the Bible). If it were a clear promise, we should expect devoted Christians from the first century on to be talking about this coming, which we do not find in Christian writings. This means it is a promise only based on Mr. Lee´s authority, not the written word.

Second, Manhee Lee’s statement that his coming is prophesied just like Jesus’ coming is not accurate. Jesus’ coming in the Old Testament was foretold clearly. Although many of the details were disputed in the first century, no one disputed the Messianic promise itself. One Talmudic tradition says that the prophets spoke of nothing more important than the days of the Messiah. Multiple groups independently extracted promises of a Messiah, like the Essenes. The Aramaic targums (translations of the Old Testament) inserted the Messiah in many texts. Even the Samaritans believed a Messiah was to come (Jn. 4:25, 42)

Thus, when God’s voice wanted his people to believe in an important coming like the Messiah’s coming, he used clear and unambiguous language. Applied to Manhee Lee’s statement above, if there is a similar promise from God in the New Testament for a pastor, it should be equally obvious, but it’s not.”

Why do I bring this up?

Building up a word dictionary is incredibly dangerous and ripe for manipulation and abuse.

While I do believe that some of the parables that SCJ teaches are correct, oftentimes sects like SCJ use the logical fallacy association fallacy to redefine the Bible to point it towards MHL and his ‘fulfillment’ of Revelation.

You can read more about this fallacy here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fallacy

Lastly, Man Hee Lee was not only involved with multiple other Korean sects, and not only did he obviously borrow and update the same doctrines from his cult experience to make them about himself, he was also influenced by the other sect leaders that existed during his life. Whether it was the WMSCOG, or the Unification Church, each and every sect follows a similar script of deception and the use of parable injections to not only explain the bible but also have the bible talk about their chosen special leader.