Who Does Ahn Sahng Hong Say Is The Bride?

The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) believes that a woman named Zahng Gil Jah (Jang Gil Ja) is the bride spoken of in Scripture.  The WMSCOG believes that Zahng Gil Jah is Ahn Sahng Hong’s spiritual wife as they explain in an online sermon titledThe Heavenly Wedding Banquet”.  The WMSCOG references Revelation 22:17 saying:

The Spirit is our Father, and the bride is the wife of our Father, so she is our Mother.

english.watv.org

The WMSCOG’s statement concerning the bride referring to the “mother” clearly contradicts Scripture which identifies the church as the bride elsewhere:

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:23-24

I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

2 Corinthians 11:2

The WMSCOG believes that the bride refers to the “mother god” and not to the church despite the Bible’s explicit teaching that the bride is the church.  But what does the Korean man named Ahn Sahng Hong, who founded the WMSCOG (and whom they believe was the second coming of Jesus), believe the bride is?

Who Is The Bride According To Ahn Sahng Hong?

In his book entitled “Visitors From The Angelic World”, Ahn Sahng Hong writes on page 55:

Thus, Jesus is the last Adam, and the saints who are redeemed can be called the last Eve.

Ahn Sahng Hong

Adam and Eve were husband and wife.  If Jesus is the last Adam and the saints are the last Eve, the Church is the Bride!

Why The Contradictions?

If Ahn Sahng Hong’s writings support that the bride represents the church, why does the WMSCOG believe that the bride is Zahng Gil Jah or the “mother god”?  Did Ahn Sahng Hong, in any of his writings, ever describe the bride as a single person, a god, a mother or anything other than the church?  No. In fact, Ahn Sahng Hong wrote an entire book denouncing the idea of a “mother god”.

Despite the lack of evidence to support that Ahn Sahng Hong himself believed that the bride in the Bible represents a “mother god”, the WMSCOG claims:

the One who is indispensable for giving eternal life is our Mother, the wife of the Lamb, represented by Eve

english.watv.org

Interestingly, on page 65 of “Visitors From The Angelic World”, Ahn Sahng Hong writes:

To speak again, as we have our human fathers through whom our bodies are given birth, so we have our spiritual Father who created our spirits by His breath of life.

Ahn Sahng Hong

This would have been a good opportunity for Ahn Sahng Hong to mention that there was a “spiritual mother” if he in fact believed there was one, but he didn’t.

What Does Scripture Say?

The WMSCOG claims that:

Those who do not believe in Mother can’t receive the promise of eternal life and the kingdom of heaven…God…has acknowledged us, who are following Mother in this age, as those who have the best faith.

english.watv.org

Yet, in the Bible Jesus says:

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die…

John 11:25

Was Ahn Sahng Hong Ever Married to Zahng Gil Jah?

Ahnsahnghong - Zahng Gil Jah Wedding Photo

This “spiritual marriage” between Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah has been a matter of controversy among many former members and critics.  Zahng Gil Jah is said to have divorced her husband while both were members of Ahn Sahng Hong’s original church.  Ahn Sahng Hong remained married to his wife until his death in 1985. He is buried next to his wife Hwang Won Soon in South Korea. Zahng Gil Jah’s divorce and Ahn Sahng Hong’s alleged adulterous affair with Zahng Gil Jah, would absolutely disqualify them them both from being “god” according to the Bible.

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:19
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11 Comments
  1. Reina says

    The bible clearly testifies about Heavenly mother.
    (Rev 22:17) The Spirit and the birde say “come” And let him who hears say, “come” whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
    In the last days the Spirit and the Bride give us the water of life which is eternal life. So we can understand the Bride is God Almighty.
    Our Heavenly mother !!!

    1. admin says

      Hi Reina,

      Thank you for your response. I am very interested in debating this topic. Here are some comments on the points you raise:

      1. The bride in Revelation 22:17 clearly refers to the church, and not to any “mother god”, because the Bible everywhere refers to the church as “the bride”. This was pointed out in the original article above.

      So your task with Revelation 22:17 is to demonstrate why the term “bride” in this verse does not mean “church”, when everywhere else in Scripture it is constantly used as a metaphor for the church. As Ahnsahnghong says in The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, “we must let the Bible interpret the Bible”. Interpreting this verse here as anything other than “the church” does violence to the metaphor used throughout the Bible, as well as Ahnsahnghong’s own directive.

      2. Ahnsahnghong says what he believes Revelation 22:17 means in “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life” in Ch 35, on p. 473 when he writes:

      The interpretation of Rev 22:17 is that Jesus, who cried out on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles 1,900 years ago, will come again in the flesh and cry out.
      – Ahn Sahng-Hong, The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, Ch 35, p. 473

      So, on the one hand Ahn Sahng-Hong, the man the WMSCOG claims is the second coming of Jesus Christ says it means one thing, and on the other hand, your argument says it means something else. Do you see the problem?

      Ashnsahnghong says that Rev 22:17 refers to “Jesus Christ”, and the argument you raise says it refers to a “heavenly mother”. I guess if we want to follow Ahnsahnghong, I’d have to say he has already proven that argument wrong. So if we want to listen to Ahnsahnghong, then Rev 22:17 refers to Jesus Christ and not to any “heavenly mother”.

      Your thoughts?

    2. jaypee says

      is that it? I’m sure there are other verses in the bible that proves your opinion, right? If not, f*** off and get out of that damned church because the next thing you know, they will be ordering you to commit suicide when your “mother” died.

  2. DavidsOffspring says

    You just have a misunderstanding. Nowhere in his books, or sermons does Ahnsahnghong indicate that the bride is the church. In no way, shape, or form does that interpretation of the verse make any sense. A bride will never mean a church. Not now, not tomorrow, and not ever. If you want to discuss this more, we can. But first, read about the Heavenly Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22, then Rev. 21 followed by Galatians 4:26.

    It says Jesus will come in the flesh again and cry out.. that is followed by a verse in John stating “Your word is truth”. Jesus was crying out the truth. When Jesus cried out at the Feast, he was teaching about the truth (John 7). When he comes a 2nd time, he will cry out the truth. Meaning, he will teach about the truth, crying out for his children. John 1 states that God’s children are not born of natural descent, or human nature, or a husband’s will.. but born of God.

    1. admin says

      Hello DavidsOffspring and thank you for commenting.

      You stated “Nowhere in his books, or sermons does Ahnsahnghong indicate that the bride is the church”. But in the above article you can see the direct quotes from Ahnsahnghong’s books where he describes the bride as “the saints who are redeemed can be called the last Eve” on page 55 in “Visitors From The Angelic World”. This is Ahn saying that the bride is the church. Do you have a copy of the book that you can reference so that you can see it for yourself?

      You stated “A bride will never mean a church”, yet Scripture is replete with exactly this metaphor. For instance 2 Corinthians 11:2-3:

      2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
      2 Corinthians 11:2-3

      or even more clearly Ephesians 5:29-32:

      29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church — 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
      Ephesians 5:29-32

      Clearly the church is referred to as the bride in these verses. Note that Paul says “your minds” when speaking to members of the church.

      Now, we are quickly bringing in a lot of additional verses. I would encourage you to mention these as separate posts in our forum so that we can further discuss each one. I would be very interested in studying the arguments in more detail so we can clear up any misunderstanding. As a quick follow up though, in regard to Galatians 4:26, please see this article, and for the wedding banquet in general I would recommend this article.
      Also, please specify which verses in Revelation 21 you are referring to.

      You stated, “It says Jesus will come in the flesh again and cry out.. that is followed by a verse in John stating…”. Can you please expand on this more?

      It would be helpful if you could start a separate topic for each of your points in the forum. That way we can address each of the points accurately and the focus of the questions will not be lost.

      Hope to hear from you soon.

  3. jessa27 says

    Wmscog also said that church means the bride

    1. admin says

      Hi jessa. Where has the WMS said this?

      1. jessa27 says

        Im from Philippine. They show me some verses while teaching me that the church in the bible means the god the mother or the bride

        1. admin says

          this explanation should clear things up.

  4. Elie says

    Funny how these wmscog members keeps popping up into the forums and leaving comments and when directly confronted, they just vanished into thin air. No comebacks, no anything.

    1. jaypee says

      they SHOULD be dead by now.

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