Cory McClellan, a 13-year World Mission Society Church of God former member shares about her abusive and traumatic experiences inside the church and why she left.

This statement above is an excerpt of a World Mission Society Church of God sermon given by the Chairwoman in October of 2012. In addition to her role as Chairwoman of the International WeLoveU Foundation, Zhang Gil Jah is also known as “god the mother” in the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG). Her followers believe that she is god in the flesh, and that salvation from eternal hellfire can only be obtained through her and the WMSCOG’s numerous other requirements. The World Mission Society Church of God is considered to be a doomsday cult by many former members and families that have lost contact with loved ones after they joined the group. In recent years, the controversial religious group has become very active in their communities all around the world through the WeLoveU Foundation, a front organization created to deceptively recruit members of the public into the church. Serious consideration should be given to the information provided below before becoming affiliated with, or providing financial support to the WeLoveU Foundation.

What is the WeLoveU Foundation?

The International WeLoveU Foundation is purported to be a global charity who’s charitable works include disaster relief, blood drives and environmental clean up projects. The Foundation’s official website states that the charity “aims to make the world a better place where everybody is respected and where sustainable peace is achieved.” The charity also displays the Presidential Volunteer Service Awards it received in 2019 and 2020.

Who is behind the WeLoveU Foundation?

The World Mission Society Church of God is not referenced on the International WeLoveU Foundation’s website, though there are numerous connections between the two organizations. According to the WeLoveU Foundation’s website, Zhang Gil Jah, the same woman the WMSCOG believes is “god the mother,” is the Chairwoman of the organization. A statement from the Chairwoman states in part:

This statement is in stark contrast to the aforementioned statement made by Zhang Gil Jah in her sermon. The statement by Zhang Gil Jah on the WeLoveU Foundation’s website projects a message about love, happiness and overall concern for public wellbeing. The statement the Chairwoman makes in her role as “god the mother” in her sermon demonstrates her actual intention, to experience joy while watching non-World Mission Society Church of God members being burned to death. This contradiction brings the true motives behind the WeLoveU Foundation’s charitable works into question.

What is the connection between the WeLoveU Foundation & the WMSCOG leadership?

In the United States, the WeLoveU Foundation is currently headquartered in New Windsor, New York (previously in Oradell, New Jersey). In a publicly available tax record filed by the WeLoveU Foundation in 2021, the following board members are listed on page 7 (see complete filing below):

All of the board members for the WeLoveU Foundation hold leadership positions within the World Mission Society Church of God. Daniel Lee, aka Dong Il Lee, is also referred to as the president of WeLoveU in this video.

John Casas and John Power, both Elders in the WMSCOG, are seen in the same video. Victor Lozada, another WMSCOG elder, is also listed as an officer for the WeLoveU Foundation on the Arkansas Secretary of State website. Other members of the WMSCOG leadership previously mentioned are also listed as officers (see the highlighted areas).

The same names, Daniel Lee, John Casas and Iven Rodriguez, are listed on the WeLoveU Foundation’s certificate of incorporation in the state of New Jersey (highlighted on page 2 below).

According to their website, the International WeLoveU Foundation hosted an event called Save the World Global Forum in 2018. Zhang Gil Jah can be seen in a photo with General Pastor Joo Cheol Kim and U.S. East Coast Pastor Dong Il Lee. Joo Cheol Kim is identified as the Vice Chairman of the foundation. Note that there is no mention of the fact that these three individuals are the top leaders of the World Mission Society Church of God in South Korea and the United States.

Public documents from a Town Hall meeting in New Windsor, New York, reveal that the WeLoveU Foundation offered to purchase the property at 18 Snake Hill Rd for $580,000. The buyer agent listed on behalf of the WeLoveU Foundation is Saira Ahmed, WMSCOG member (see highlighted portions below, the entire agenda and related documents are available here).

Note that the World Mission Society Church of God has a large compound nearby in New Windsor, New York as well. While the WeLoveU Foundation and the World Mission Society Church of God in New Jersey are incorporated separately for tax purposes, they cannot be considered completely unrelated.

Does the WeLoveU Foundation disclose any association with the WMSCOG?

An archive of the WeLoveU Foundation’s website for their Denver location shows that there was a clear connection to the WMSCOG. In what is presumably an effort to erase any evidence of a relationship between the two organizations, these images have since been removed.

In a memo for a WeLoveU event titled Mother’s Love Feeds the Hungry, organized by WMSCOG Missionary Rebecca Gardner (aka Parker) and fellow member Saira Ahmed, it is clearly communicated to the local churches that during this event there is to be no mention of any affiliation with the WMSCOG. Interestingly, mentioning the Chairwoman Zhang Gil Jah seemed to be encouraged. The members who were assigned to deliver the food were tasked with “tak[ing] clear pictures of senior citizens (who have signed the waiver) with WeLoveU members.” While delivering food to the elderly in itself is a noble cause, it appears that the event was a public relations stunt designed for WeLoveU propaganda (see the highlighted portions on page 2).

Similarly, in another memo that was circulated among church leaders regarding a walkathon in 2018, it was again made clear that WMSCOG members were not to mention any affiliation with the religious group while at the WeLoveU event. Members were also reminded that they were to call each other by name, not title, and to be aware that there would be cameras and other people watching. In other words, pretend to be normal (see highlighted portions on page 3).

What is the purpose of the WeLoveU Foundation events according to the WMSCOG?

The walkathon memo above, instructs leaders to “help them [WMSCOG members] understand that this is a different kind of preaching event.” In the WMSCOG, “preaching” is another word for recruiting new members into the church.

The same message was communicated in a memo for a WeLoveU blood drive. This memo specifically instructed WMSCOG leadership not to read the memo to WMSCOG members. The memo clearly states in all caps that this kind of event only exists for preaching (or recruiting) purposes. So here we have at least two WeLoveU events that were organized for the purpose of recruiting new members into the WMSCOG.

Members were also instructed to give a “minimum suggested freewill offering” of $20 to the admin person in the church, not the WeLoveU Foundation. In the “What NOT to do!” section of the memo, it states “Please do not mention anything about the Church of God. The International WeLoveU Foundation and the Church of God are separate entities,” followed by another reminder to act normal in front of media and guests (see highlighted portions throughout the memo).

While is indisputable that World Mission Society Church of God and the WeLoveU Foundation are separate entities legally, functionally the WeLoveU Foundation is just a front group that was created to deceptively recruit more members into the WMSCOG. WMSCOG members are taught that recruiting new members is the way to salvation, therefore, from the WMSCOG’s perspective the ends justify the means.

What should you consider before supporting the WeLoveU Foundation?

• The WeLoveU Foundation is an alter ego of the World Mission Society Church of God.
• Supporting the WeLoveU Foundation means supporting the World Mission Society Church of God’s recruitment efforts and public relations campaigns as demonstrated by the memos discussed above.
• The World Mission Society Church of God is considered a cult by many former members.
• The World Mission Society Church of God has unduly influenced members to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to prevent them from speaking out about the church.
• The World Mission Society Church of God sues former members and critics for speaking out against the group’s alleged abuses.
• The World Mission Society Church of God has been accused of encouraging members to have abortions as alleged in this lawsuit filed by a former member in a New Jersey Federal Court.
• The World Mission Society Church of God has been accused of arranging marriages, separating families, encouraging divorce if one spouse refuses to become a member or if after being a member he or she decides to leave the church, encouraging students to drop out of school and demanding massive amounts of time and money from its members.

Are front groups unique to the WMSCOG?

The World Mission Society Church of God is by no means considered a pioneer in the realm of deceptive recruitment. Front groups have long been an integral part of destructive cults. Scientology has been known to use front groups to recruit members into their cult since before the WMSCOG even existed. The Unification Church (aka the Moonies) has quite an exhaustive list of known front groups.

A message for current WMSCOG members

If you are a current World Mission Society Member who is working tirelessly for salvation because “father is coming soon,” note that the WeLoveU Foundation claims to be determined “to have a clean world not only for this generation but especially for future generations” on page 14 of the 2018 tax filing below. Ask yourself what future generations they are referring to while the WMSCOG continues to brainwash you into believing that the end of the world is near. Ask yourself what difference it makes whether the world is clean or not if it is all going to burn as Zhang Gil Jah claims in her sermon. How much more time, energy, money and other resources are you willing to give to a such a deceptive and toxic organization like the World Mission Society Church of God?

WeLoveU Foundation 990 Filing for 2021

According to the filing:

• The WeLoveU Foundation has received over $2 million dollars in donations and membership fees over the last 5 years (page 14).
• Big Shine Worldwide, a global technology company owned by WMSCOG Pastor Daniel Lee, donated $50,000 to the WeLoveU Foundation (page 22).
• Paul Cha, WMSCOG elder and WeLoveU Foundation Treasurer (page 7), is listed as the Sales Manager for Big Shine Worldwide here.
• The WeLoveU Foundation donated backpacks to students in NJ, IL and CA (page 2), the same states that the World Mission Society Church of God and Big Shine Worldwide are incorporated in.

Additional 990 filings are available at www.guidestar.org.

WeLoveU Foundation 990 Filing for 2018

World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) claims that Zhang Gil Jah, the woman in South Korea whom they claim to be “god the mother”, is the prophetic fulfillment of the heifer in the Book of Numbers. This topic was first discussed on this site in an article here. After reviewing the WMSCOG’s arguments on this topic again, this time in a book titled “God the Father and God the Mother” written by general pastor Joo Cheol Kim, additional rebuttals surfaced. (See relevant pages below). One important thing to keep in mind while reading this article is that when the WMSCOG claims that Zhang Gil Jah is “god”, there is no room for error in her actions, nor in the actions committed on her behalf by the leadership.

What is a Heifer according to the dictionary?

The word heifer is defined as a young cow over one year old that has not produced a calf. Once a heifer produces a calf, she automatically becomes a cow. It has long been established that Zhang Gil Jah had two children with her ex-husband. Therefore, Zhang Gil Jah cannot represent the heifer in the book of Numbers.

Why is this important?

In the above referenced book, Joo Cheol Kim uses phrases that are obviously intended to inspire guilt and fear in WMSCOG members. On page 157, he writes regarding Sabbath and Third Day (Tuesday) worship:

“Through such regulations, Mother has purified our souls by sacrificing Herself, so that we may not be cut off from the community of God.”

This is actually a very loaded statement.

First, it asserts that Saturday and Tuesday worship at the WMSCOG is a “regulation” from God. This creates a false sense of duty when the member is made to understand that they must attend Saturday and Tuesday services because God allegedly commands them to do so.

Second, the statement alleges that Zhang Gil Jah is sacrificing herself, as the heifer was sacrificed in Numbers, in order to purify members’ souls. This statement is obviously meant to induce feelings of guilt and indebtedness to Zhang Gil Jah for her supposed sacrifice.

Third, the above referenced statement by Joo Cheol Kim implies that if a member does not attend Saturday and Tuesday worship services, he or she may be “cut off from the community of God.” This statement sends a clear message that if the member does not follow the rules or “regulations” set forth, he or she will be “cut off” or kicked out of the WMSCOG. Since WMSCOG members are indoctrinated to believe that World Mission is the only church by which one can receive salvation, this cleverly crafted message is designed to induce fear of the only alternative fate, which is to burn in hell for all of eternity.

(Read more about how cults use loaded language, fear and guilt as thought control tactics here.)

On page 158, the guilt trips and fear mongering continue:

“The Israelites were cleansed through the sacrifice of a heifer. This shows that God’s children are purified through the sacrifice of Mother on the third and seventh days.”

As previously stated, Zhang Gil Jah cannot represent the heifer in Numbers because she would be, simply by definition, a cow. Zhang Gil Jah is also not without defect because she erroneously claimed, or alternatively allowed Joo Cheol Kim to erroneously claim, that she represented the heifer in the first place. Therefore, the belief that the members are somehow “cleansed” by their attendance during Tuesday and Saturday worship at the WMSCOG is based on a false premise and does not hold up to scrutiny.

Following repetitious statements, on page 159:

“How can we imagine and describe in words our Mother’s pain, sacrifice and love?”

Any reasonable person who is not subject to the undue influence of the WMSCOG, would agree that it is highly improbable that Zhang Gil Jah’s blatant lies cause her pain and suffering. This statement is clearly designed to influence members to feel guilty and indebted to Zhang Gil Jah. The veiled “you owe me or else” sentiment in the above passages written by Joo Cheol Kim seems pathologically narcissistic. Love is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5).

The Bible also tells us that there is no fear in love, fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18). Remember the threat of being “cut off from the community of God” as a punishment for not keeping Tuesday and Saturday worship? (page 157). Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5). World Mission Society Church of God keeps records of everything that you do or fail to do for the group. But that is a topic for another day.

Love must be sincere (Romans 12:9). Love cannot be sincere if it is based on a lie. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6). If you are a member, carefully consider the information in this article so that you may free yourself from the life of slavery you live as a member of the World Mission Society Church of God.    

Despite the contradictions between what Ahn Sahng Hong wrote in his book Problems With New Jerusalem, The Bride and Women’s Veils and the World Mission Society Church of God‘s belief that “god the mother” exists, members have argued that since Um Soo In was the “fake” mother god, a real one must exist.  A member cited this analogy in the comments below a blog article by WMSCOG missionary Victor Lozada:

“Again, this book actually proves that there is a Heavenly Mother.  Can there be a fake Louis Vuitton bag without a real Louis Vuitton bag? No? Then if a false Mother or Bride appears, it is because there must be a real one.”

www.thetruewmscog.com

In order for this analogy to be applicable, Ahn Sahng Hong would have to have written that Um Soo In was a “false god the mother”.  Let’s take a look at what Ahn Sahng Hong actually wrote in his book Problems With New Jerusalem regarding this issue.

In Chapter 7 of Problems With New Jerusalem, Ahn Sahng Hong writes:

A missionary of the WMSCOG argues that, “the Holy City Jerusalem is a symbol being used to represent our Heavenly Mother“.

Ahn Sahng Hong goes on to disagree with Um Soo In and the WMSCOG:

Ahn Sahng Hong further disagrees with Um Soo In:

Ahn Sahng Hong completely opposed the idea that Sarah represented the Jerusalem from above, but that is exactly what the WMSCOG believes.  Ahn Sahng Hong also completely opposed the idea that a woman could be the Jerusalem from above, because according to his interpretation of Galatians 3:16, that would mean that whoever that woman was, she would be the mother and the bride of Christ.  Ahn Sahng Hong described this notion as “extremely disgraceful“.

How is this different from the WMSCOG’s interpretation of Zahng Gil Jah being the New Jerusalem and the the bride?  It is not different at all.  In fact, at the end of Chapter 7 Ahn Sahng Hong goes as far as to say that Um Soo In was a “false prophet” with “weird delusions”.  My guess is that Ahn Sahng Hong would have similar things to say about Um Soo In’s copycat, Zahng Gil Jah.

In summary, the only thing that this book proves is that Ahn Sahng Hong opposed both Um Soo In’s and the WMSCOG’s conclusion that there is a “god the mother”, regardless of which Korean woman claims to be her. 

• “Is The City of New Jerusalem a Female God?” Audio Recording of Ahnsahnghong

Here is the translation of the video: 

안상홍님 설교

Sermon by Ahn Sang-Hong

-천년왕국 중에서-

About Chiliasm (the Milennial Kingdom)

Revelation Chapter 21

www.ncpcog.com

과연, 새예루살렘 도성이 여자하나님인가?

Indeed, is the city of new Jerusalem a female God? 

안상홍님은 계21장을 뭐라고 말씀하셨는가?

What does Ahn, Sang Hong say about (interpret) Revelation 21?

새예루살렘성이 내려오는 때는 지금이 아니고!

세상이 끝나고

천년이 지나서 되는 일이다.

 The time when the new Jerusalem will come is not now! 

After the world ends

it will be done after 1000 years pass.

베뢰아 사람은 

데살로니가에 있는 사람보다

더 신사적이어서

간절한 마음으로 말씀을 받고

이것이 그러한가 하여

날마다 성경을 상고하므로 

(행 17:11)

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11/ NIV)

그래서 여기, 새하늘과 새땅은 언제 나온다는 말씀 입니까?

Therefore here, when will it be that a new heaven and a new earth will come? 

이 세상 끝이 되야 됩니다. 

It will be at the end of the world.

이 세상 불바다로서 끝이되는 그때에 가서야

우리를 위한 새하늘과 새땅을 바라보는 것입니다.

We will look at a new heaven and a new earth for us when this world has finally come to an end.

그럼 요한계시록 21장을 다시 돌아가 보겠습니다.

Then, we will go back to Revelation Chapter 21 again.

1절에 다시보면은, 

또 내가 새하늘과 새땅을 보니 처음 하늘과 처음땅이 없어졌고 바다도 다시 있지 않더라~ 그랬어요.

From the 1st verse, it is written as follows:  

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 

이 바다가, 바다도 있지 않다고 했으니까, 이 세상의 바다가 없어졌습니까? 지금! 

It is said, the sea, there was no longer any sea but where has the sea has gone? now! 

벌써 없어졌습니까?

Has the sea already gone? 

또 처음하늘과 처음땅도 없어졌는데, 처음 하늘과 없어졌습니까? (안없어졌어요)

Also, the first heaven and the first earth has passed away, has the first heaven passed away? (not it did not)

또 내가 보매 거룩한성 새 예루살렘이 하나님께로부터 하늘에서 내려오니 그 예비한 것이 신부가 남편을 위하여 단장한 것 같더라.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

내가 들으니 보좌에서 큰 음성이 나서 가로되 보라 하나님의 장막이 사람들과 함께 있으매 하나님이 저희와 함께 거하시리니 저희는 하나님의 백성이 되고 하나님은 친히 저희와 함께 계셔서 모든 눈물을 그 눈에서 씻기시매, 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

이제 눈물을 우리 눈에서 씻기시면은, 다시 사망이 없습니다. 

Now when he wipes every tear from our eyes, there will be no death. 

그러니까, 모든 눈물을 우리 눈에서 씻기시매 다시 사망이 없고 애통하는 것이나 곡하는 것이나 아픈 것이 다시 있지 아니하리니 처음 것들이 다 지나갔음이러라. 

Therefore, all tears from our eyes will be wiped away and, ‘[t]here will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

얼마나 여기에서 이렇게 잘 말해 줬습니까?

How well is it spoken here (or in this sentence)?

그래서 여기 21장에서 쭈욱 보면은 이제 하늘나라의, 그 하늘의 예루살렘이 내려옵니다.

Thus, if you read through this in Chapter 21, now the kingdom of heaven, the Jerusalem from heaven will be coming down. 

9절에 보면은 일곱 대접을 가지고 마지막 일곱 재앙을 담은 천사 중 하나가 (나에게)나아와서 내게 말하여 가로되 이리오라 내가 신부 곧 어린양의 아내를 네게 보이리라 하고 성령으로 나를 데리고 크고 높은 산을 올라가 하나님께로부터 하늘에서 내려오는 거룩한 성 예루살렘을 보이니~

In reference to verse 9, “had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 

여기보면 천년! 말하자면은 천년왕국이 지나서, 거기에서 이제 하늘에 있는 예루살렘이 내려오는데~ 

It says here, a thousand years!  Speaking, after 1000 years passed away, over there, then the Jerusalem from the heaven will come down, 

우리가 지금까지 말하는 이 예루살렘은 우리 성도들이라고 말을.. 자리를 다 채울 수 있는 십사만사천 성도들이 되는 것 입니다. 

The Jerusalem we have been mentioning so far will be the one which can be filled with our congregation (believers), that will become 144,000 saints. 

바로 그 예루살렘, 새예루살렘 안에는! 

This very Jerusalem, inside of the new Jerusalem! 

여기 히브리 12장 22절에 뭐라고 말했습니까?

What is stated in Hebrews 12:22?

자, 히브리 12장 22절, 그 안에는 성도들만 있는게 아니라,

하나님과 모든 천만천사들이 다 그 안에 있습니다.

Look, in Hebrews Chapter 12 verse 22, there is not only believers, but also, God and thousands of angels are in it.  

히브리서!  12장 22절!

Hebrews!  Chapter 12 verse 22!

히브리 12장 22절, 그러나 너희가 이른 곳은 시온산과 살아 계신 하나님의 도성인 하늘의 예루살렘과 천만 천사와 하늘에 기록한 장자들의 총회와 교회와 만민의 심판자이신 하나님과 및 온전케 된 의인의 영들과 (신약) 새 언약의 중보이신 예수와~ 및 아벨의 피보다 더 낫에 말하는 뿌린 피니라.

Hebrews Chapter 12 verse 22, But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

이 하늘의 예루살렘은 십사만사천 성도만 있는 것이 아니고,

그 안에는 하나님도 계시고, 천만천사들도 있고, 예수님도 계시고 

모든 그 온전케된 의인들이 그 안에 전부 다 있습니다. 

In the Jerusalem in heaven, there will not only be the 144,000 believers, but also, God, thousands of angels, Jesus, and  the righteous men made perfect.

아니 이렇게 장엄한 그 예루살렘이 어떤 일개의 한 여자로서 표상한다고 해서야 되겠습니까?

Well, should we say that this magnificent Jerusalem represents a woman?

우리가 좀더 여기서 구체적으로 하면, 시간이 많이 걸리겠는데…

이 문제 가지고 제가 책을 하나 내겠습니다! 

If we discuss this matter in detail, it might take a longer time…

So, I am going to publish a book in regards to this matter!

요한계시록 20장 21장 22장은 

천년왕국 후 되는 일이니

이점 특별히 주의하셔야 겠습니다.

-안상홍님 저서 중에서-

In Revelations Chapters 20, 21, and 22, it is described about incidents after 1000 years. 

Thus, particular attention is required when reading.

-books written by Ahn Sang Hong

www.ncpcog.com

On July 14th, 2005 the Northern Seoul Regional Court ruled against the WMSCOG in WMSCOG vs Ji Won Tak.  We obtained a copy of the court case from Korea and have made a translation available for you below:

Download the court case in English

Download the court case in Korean

There are many interesting points documented by the court, including:

• The WMSCOG predicted the end of the world in 1988, 1999, and 2012.  p. 5-6
• Um Soo In was kicked out of Ahnsahnghong’s church for claiming to be the “spiritual mother” (and, by the way, Ahnsahnghong said that “the idea of a mother god was delusional” in response to Um Soo In).  p. 6-7
• Ahnsahnghong’s original church was indeed divided between the NCPCOG and the WMSCOG, which was the result of these two sects’ argument over making Zhang Gil Jah the “spiritual mother.”  p. 7
• The WMSCOG changed their name from “Church of God Ahnsahnghong Witness Association” to the WMSCOG in 1997.  p. 6
• Some 300 WMSCOG members disrupted a business, with some members engaging in an altercation.  p 7-8
• The WMSCOG says (direct quote) — “we would like to be understood and accepted as a new religion and not as another denomination of the existing Protestant church.”  p. 5

You can download the court case in English (pdf), Korean, or read it below:

Update on Jan 23, 2012 – Some WMSCOG members claim that this court case is one in a series of court cases involving the WMSCOG and Ji Won Tak.  WMSCOG members claim that a later court overturned this court’s ruling.  When I have obtained the additional court cases, I will post them here.

English Translation of WMSCOG vs Ji Won Tak – July 14, 2005

Translated from Korean

Northern Seoul Regional Court
Civil Section Number 11
Judgment

Case 2003 Gahap 6020 Damage Compensation (Gi)

Plaintiff
Church of God World Gospel Association
395-67 Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul
Chairman Joo Cheol Kim
Legal Counsel, Kyung Yong Park, esq.
Co-counsel, Yong Gi Ryu, esq.

Defendant
Ji Won Tak
115-1401 Jugong APT., Sanggye-6dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul
Legal Counsel, Gi Joon Park, esq.
Defense Ending Date June 24, 2005

Judgment Date July 8, 2005

Main Decision
1. The claims by plaintiff are all dismissed.
2. Plaintiff shall pay for all legal costs.

Page 1 of 11

Claims Plaintiff seeks defendant to pay plaintiff 20,000,000 won and interest calculated by 5% a year for the period from the day after this copy of lawsuit was delivered and until the judgment date and 20% a year from the following day until entire amount is paid.  Plaintiff seeks defendant to designate a newspaper among the papers published and distributed nationwide within ten days of the final decision and post a correction at the bottom of the page with 38 font size in gothic font with a title of correction and an article underneath with a 14 font size in (myungjo) font at the expense of defendant.

Reasons
1. Basic Facts
The following facts are undisputed by the parties, or can be acknowledged as facts by concluding from all of the intentions in the arguments listed in the evidence (Article) numbers 1 through 3.
A. Plaintiff is the church Sang Hong Ahn (deceased) established in 1948 (referred as
“plaintiff church” hereinafter), and defendant is the publisher and editor of the monthly magazine (Hyudae Jongyo).
B. Defendant has published about 2,000 copies of a book titled “Researches on the New
Religions of Korea 2002, Collection I (subtitled, Self-Claimed Reborn Jesus Christ of Korea) and distributed about 500 copies to the Christian bookstores nationwide. On pages 145 to 168 of the book, the following text is listed about the plaintiff church: Under the title of “The Church of God (World Gospel Association)”, and underneath it, it describes, “The Church of God is an organization that stemmed from the Adventist Church. But unlike the Adventist church which acknowledges general Christian beliefs of judgment, ethical salvation, as well as resurrection, eternal life, trinity, atonement of the cross, and Jesus Christ’s redemption, this organization believes that Sang Hong Ahn who died

Page 2 of 11

in 1985 is God, and as they have proclaimed that they are not Christians, they are actually not part of Christianity”. It goes on to say, “Aware that the continuing failures of the many end of the world theories that continued in 1988 and 1994 as well as the critical views of the society, as they all came to be not true, they have changed their name to the Church of God World Gospel Association to continue their activities. In 1999, particularly, they again came up with another end of the world theory by jumping on the wagon of the Y2K phenomenon, which they insisted to their believers, but it too also backfired and along with reports of the Church of God Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association, what went on in their organization was reported by the media. In 1988, they were reported to have proclaimed an end of the world theory, and after this year, they have continued to claim these theories every year to their believers, some of which resulted in some of their believers leaving their families, which resulted in the family members making petitions each year. They then changed their name to Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association, but after it caused troubles in their missionary work, they changed their name to the Church of God. According to the teachings of Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association, the end of the world would come in 1988 at which time the world will disappear without a trace and except for 144,000 people who have been granted with God’s special protection, everything will be destroyed. It was believed that the first wife of Sang Hong Ahn, who was his so called spiritual wife, was Soo In Um. Um divorced her former husband before she began seeing Ahn, and she was the one who proclaimed that Ahn was Jesus Christ in 1978. After Ahn died, the Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association was divided into a sect called New Covenant Passover Church of God that worshipped Um as the wife of God and another sect that chose Gil Ja Chang as the wife of God in 1981 and believed the second spiritual wife as Mother. They wore white clothes that Ahn always wore when he was alive and insisted on living in shacks in the slums of Haewoondae. At worship meetings, they could not get into the building while wearing shoes, and women were required to wear veils on their head just like the Roman Catholic Church, all of which were some of their major

Page 3 of 11

doctrines. The Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association interpreted some of the Bible verses on their own in discretion in order to match with their claims, some of which were that in Psalms 132:10-18, there is a prophecy that David will grow horns. They insisted that the seven horns in the verse symbolize seven seasonal periods, and Ahn insisted after finding a doctrine about the periods that he was the little lamb in the last period. We must know that cults and heresies always target and approach people who are not satisfied and complain about their lives. What they are insisting are clearly pseudo-religious heresies that can only be accepted by someone with little knowledge about Christian beliefs, but they do not focus on Ahn being God to other people when they start missionary work. In February 29, 2000, a former member of the association named Chung left the organization and disclosed the truth about it after which he was surrounded by some 400 members and assaulted.”
C. As such, the plaintiff church claimed that the defendant published untruthful facts about the plaintiff church which resulted in damage to their reputation and honor by which it filed an injunction on producing, selling, and distributing published materials, followed by a libel and slander by publication lawsuit against the defendant around June, 2002.
2. Decision on the Claims of Plaintiff
A. Claims
All of the contents of the book about the plaintiff church describe untruthful facts, by which the plaintiff church’s reputation has been damaged due to such illegal acts committed by the defendant against the plaintiff, therefore the defendant must pay for the damages and is obligated to publish an appropriate correction in a newspaper in order to recover the damaged reputation as listed in the attachment.
B. Decision

Page 4 of 11

(1) First of all, we shall take a look at the book (referred to as “the book in this case” hereinafter) about the plaintiff, published by the defendant, and decide if the contents were describing all untruthful facts.
(A) In looking at page 145 of the book in this case in which the defendant states that the, “church rejects the Christian doctrines,” and proclaims, “they are not Christians,” according to the combined arguments made in the evidence documents 1 and 2 of (Article) number 3, (Article) numbers 4 and 5, 4 of (Article) number 7, and 1 and 2 of (Article) number 19, the plaintiff church does indicate the church leader Sang Hong Ahn as the holy God or the reborn Jesus Christ in their doctrines, dogma and in one of their hymns, “New Song”, and Gil Ja Chang as the Mother God. Also as described later, they did insist on their end of the world theories, not to mention the church officials having described their religion as “God’s church different from the Catholic church and with different characteristics from many protestant churches as well.” They also stated, “we would like to be understood and accepted as a new religion and not as another denomination of the existing protestant church.” Considering these acknowledged facts and statements, it can be interpreted that they in fact were rejecting the basic Christian doctrines from the point of Christianity, therefore, it can only be said that these were not untruthful facts.
(B) In looking at the parts where the book described how the plaintiff church first proclaimed its end of the world theory in 1988, by which the members of the families of some of the believers who left their families pleaded every year, according to the combined arguments made in the documents 7 of (Article) number 7 and (Article) numbers 8 through 13 (including serial numbers), the plaintiff church did make a missionary paper which stated that the world will end in 1988, which was three years after the death of Sang Hong Ahn, and in 1999, it also conducted a survey about their prophecy of the end of the world in 1999 on their believers. Also within the church, there is another claim being proposed that the world will end in 2012. Additionally, the broadcasting stations KBS, SBS and MBC have collected information and tried to broadcast about the plaintiff church’s end of the world theory

Page 5 of 11

in their programs of “60 Minutes America”, “Cases and People”, and “PD Memos” respectively, and there is now an organization formed by husbands of the victims who have said that they were victimized by the plaintiff church’s end of the world theory. Considering all these acknowledged facts, it cannot be conclusively said that the book’s descriptions are untruthful facts even if there may be some incorrect or a little excessive expressions about how the end of the world theory was described.
(C) In looking at the parts where it said the plaintiff church changed its name to the Church of God World Gospel Association because of how their end of the world theory did not materialize or the critical opinion from the society, and it changed its name to the Church of God from Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association because its name didn’t fit well with their missionary attempts, according to the combined arguments made in the documents and videos of (Article) numbers 5 and 7 (including serial numbers), the plaintiff church in fact has been using its title of Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association or the Church of God short for the Church of God Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association since the death of Sang Hong Ahn in 1985, and around 1997, it established a non-profit organization titled the Church of God World Gospel Association for the purpose of registering and managing the organization’s assets. Additionally, as described earlier, it did in fact proclaim the end of the world theory which resulted in critical opinion from the society – which was all true, and it seems that the plaintiff church does most of its external activities in the name of Church of God World Gospel Association, not to mention the fact that it almost does not use the Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association name when it does missionary work. Therefore considering all of these actual facts, it cannot be concluded that what the defendant described about these parts are all not true.
(D) In looking at the parts where the book described the spiritual wife Soo In Um and the divided sects of the plaintiff church, according to the combined arguments made in the documents 1 and 2 of (Article) number 14, Soo Im Un was expelled from the church after she did missionary work and claimed that

Page 6 of 11

she was spiritual mother, and after the death of Sang Hong Ahn, the church was indeed divided into the New Covenant Passover Church of God based in Busan and the plaintiff church based in Seoul which was the result of these two sects’ argument over making Gil Ja Chang the spiritual mother. Therefore, the book’s descriptions about these parts cannot be concluded as untruthful facts.
(E) In looking at the parts about the life of Sang Hong Ahn and worship rituals such as requiring to take off shoes, according to the combined arguments made in documents 4 of (Article) number 20 and (Article) numbers 5 and 15, these descriptions were based on an article published in the December 1985 issue of (Hyundae Jongyo) which was written by the magazine’s reporter, Chung Kim, who actually visited the plaintiff church to experience the church and did interviews. Therefore it cannot be concluded that these were untrue, or that the defendant wrote it thinking it was all untrue, and furthermore, it cannot be concluded that the descriptions about the life of Sang Hong Ahn and the worship rituals damaged the plaintiff church’s social reputation.
(F) In looking at the church’s own interpretation about the doctrines, according to the arguments made in documents 1 and 2 of (Article) number 17, it is true that there is no mention of seven horns symbolizing seven seasonal periods in the book Sang Hon Ahn wrote titled, “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life”, but the book indeed mentions about “David’s horns” and “the little lamb during the last period”, and additionally, the above descriptions are based on the July and August 1994 issues of the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s magazine (Mokyangja). Therefore, the above parts about the doctrine and the following mentioning of cult and heresy seem to be opinions by defendant on the plaintiff church’s doctrines, cults and heresies from the defendant’s point of view. Considering these points, it cannot be concluded that these descriptions are untruthful facts either.
(G) In looking at the parts about Chung who was a member of the plaintiff church and suffered assault after he left the church, according to the combined arguments made in the documents 1, 2, and 3 of (Article) number 16, these parts were written by the defendant based on the March 8, 2000 issue of

Page 7 of 11

Gidok Sinmun (Christian Newspaper) and testimony by In Ja Chung. Even though the newspaper later replied to the article, it was only a reply made by the newspaper and cannot be interpreted as the newspaper admitting the article as untrue or having errors, and furthermore, in the summary order related to the above article (Seoul Regional Court Northern Branch 2000 Goyak No. 22814), it was acknowledged that some 300 members of the plaintiff church disrupted business in front of In Ja Chung’s video rental store and some of the members and In Ja Chung engaged in altercations which resulted in an indictment. Therefore these parts also cannot be concluded as describing truthful facts.
(H) In so far it has been looked into, the contents of the book in this case, published by the defendant, may have some parts where its expressions were not entirely correct or a little excessive, and it can be said especially from the plaintiff church’s point of view that there are parts where misunderstanding can result from how one interprets them, but in looking at the overall picture of the book, the main contents of the book do match with actual objective facts, therefore it is hard to determine that the contents are untrue, and furthermore, even if some of the details do not match with the objective facts, the defendant wrote the book based on the combination of studying the various doctrines and books published by the plaintiff church, the research data of the defendant’s father, Myung Hwan Tak (deceased), articles written by the reporters of the publishing house that the defendant operates who visited the plaintiff church and collected data, reports of various newspapers and broadcasting stations, testimonies by pastors and members who were once members of the plaintiff church and later left, as well as individual tips the plaintiff church and outcome of consultations with victims of the church, and considering all of how the book in this case was written, it is reasonably believed that the defendant believed what he found out to be true and there is no evidence that proves the defendant otherwise recognized them to be untrue.
(2) In addition, Article 20, Paraphrase 1 of Constitution states, “All people have the rights to religious freedom,” which means religious freedom includes the freedom to promote the religion one believes in

Page 8 of 11

and do missionary work in order to recruit new members, and the freedom of missionary work includes criticizing other religions and recommending that members of another religion convert to one’s own religion, therefore the rights to promote a religion and criticize other religions are subject to protection as rights to free expression at the same time as well. In such a case, it is interpreted that Article 20, Paraphrase 1 of Constitution about religious freedom has special aspect on Article 21, Paraphrase 1 of Constitution about freedom of expression, therefore, press and publication for the purposes of religion should be protected even more than other general press and publication. As such, in protecting the rights to criticize other religions or religious organizations to the maximum extent, in cases where another’s reputation or honor are damaged and as to how to decide over the two conflicting interests of protecting one’s right to religious freedom and one’s reputation, it must be decided by considering the general conditions on the act of criticizing itself such as benefits by the act of criticizing, the breadth of range of value and publication, and its ways of expression, and at the same time, comparing and considering the degree to which how such criticizing has damaged or may damage another’s reputation (Supreme Court September 6, 1996 decision, 96Da19246.) According to the combined arguments made in the evidence document number 18, the facts are that the book in this case was published as a collection of research based on the results of the outsourced research on Korea’s religious organization sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, the main contents of the book criticizes the problems of the plaintiff church’s faith and doctrines from the point of view of traditional Christianity, the purpose of which the defendant published this book was to provide information about the doctrines of traditional Christianity and religious organizations that have different doctrines than the traditional Christian churches and their members so that they can be prevented from joining the different organizations (refer to the foreword of the book), and the book in this case was mainly distributed and sold to the members of traditional Christian churches through traditional Christian bookstores, therefore, considering the purpose, the steps taken to publish the

Page 9 of 11

books, contents, characteristics, expressions and methods, and the range of audience for the publication, it can be said that the plaintiff church was attacked for its characteristics of being a cult by the defendant in terms of its doctrines, therefore its degree of libel and slander is not comparatively significant. Moreover, considering how cults in today’s society have so many negative effects, the way how the defendant inappropriately and excessively described and severely and harshly criticized the plaintiff church in the book cannot be said as out of the range of expressing religious criticism in principle. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no ground for any illegality by the defendant and the defendant is not liable for committing any illegal acts to the plaintiff. In conclusion, the claims made by the plaintiff based on accusations against the defendant’s illegal acts against the plaintiff church, have no ground to be sustained.
3. Conclusion
Therefore, the claims by the plaintiff are hereby all dismissed and the decision is made as stated in the main decision.
Presiding Judge
Judge Han Sik Hwang_______________
Judge Dong Wook Lee______________
Judge Yu Kyung Kim_______________

Page 10 of 11

This is an original copy.
July 14, 2005
Northern Seoul Regional Court
Court Clerk
Byung Il Min [seal]
Information on Appeals
If you do not agree with the decision, you must submit an appeal form
within two weeks of receiving this original copy to the Northern Seoul
Regional Court (civil cases department).
Civil Litigation Article 162 (3)
2-139

Page 11 of 11

In a Bible study that I attended at the World Mission Society Church of God called “Clean and Unclean Animals”, I was taught that ZhangGilJah represents the heifer being sacrificed in Numbers 19.  After discovering that the WMSCOG uses contextomy to make many of their arguments, I am compelled to delve further into claims made by the group.  Can a solid connection be made between the ceremonial sacrifice of a red heifer and Zahng Gil Jah?

Why Does The WMSCOG Believe That The Red Heifer In Numbers 19 Represents ZahngGilJah?

The WMSCOG missionary that taught this lesson claimed that there was a “spiritual meaning” to the heifer being sacrificed, because the heifer was the only female animal sacrificed by the Israelites during the Old Testament times.  The missionary seemed to have come to this conclusion through an analogous comparison.  “Jesus was the Passover Lamb and through His sacrifice we receive the forgiveness of sins.  In the same way “mother” is the red heifer and through her sacrifice we receive the water of life.  Just as the prophecy of the Passover Lamb was fulfilled by Jesus, the prophecy of the heifer had to be fulfilled by ‘mother'”.  The missionary cited Numbers 9:9 to support his connection to the water of life referenced in Revelation 22:17.

Historical Significance of the Red Heifer

Egyptian pagan worshipers considered heifers (or female cows) sacred and representative of the Egyptian goddess Isis.  It is interesting to note that the headdress that Isis wore consisted of cow’s horns surrounding a red solar disk (see the picture on the left).  Other titles for Isis included “Mother-god”, “Queen of heaven”, “Lady in red”, and “Lady of eternity” among others.  For the Egyptians, Isis represented motherhood, magic and fertility.  Biblical references to the pagan worship of a female deity are also noted.  Jeremiah chapter 44 describes the disasters the Lord brings upon the Jews as a result of their  idolatrous worship of the “queen of heaven“.  See also Jeremiah 7:18 where the Lord says:

It is clear in the Bible, that God was angered by the idolatrous worship of a female goddess considered to be the “queen of heaven”.  Based upon  historical facts and Biblical context, one can conclude that the sacrifice of a red heifer is in direct opposition to the Egyptian pagan belief in a sacred heifer (female cow) which was also representative of their “mother god”.

Was The Prophecy Of The Heifer In Numbers 19 Fulfilled?

The WMSCOG’s interpretation of the heifer being sacrificed in Numbers 19 suggests that in order to fulfill this prophecy, a female version of God or Christ would need to appear in the flesh as Jesus Christ did.  This argument would only be sustainable if Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy with His sacrifice on the cross.  Are there any connections between the sacrifice of the heifer and Jesus’ sacrifice in the New Testament?

Did Jesus Represent The Passover Lamb And The Heifer?

According to Numbers 19:3, it was required that the heifer be sacrificed “outside the camp“.  We can see the fulfillment of this requirement in Hebrews.

It is noted in Number 19:9 that the purpose of the sacrificial heifer was “for purification from sin“.  Fulfillment of this requirement through the blood of Jesus Christ can also be noted in the above verses.

Numbers 19:2 requires that the heifer chosen by the Israelites be “without defect or blemish“.   Fulfillment of this requirement is also noted in Hebrews.

In the above verses, Jesus who was without blemish or defect, fulfilled the requirement of all animal sacrifices, whether male [bulls] or female [heifer],  in Numbers 19:2.  Not only is the sacrifice of the heifer specifically mentioned, but it is understood that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ surpassed the cleansing the Israelites hoped to obtain through animal sacrifices required by the law of the Old Testament.  Therefore, it is clear that no other sacrifice after the sacrifice of  Jesus Christ, is necessary for us to receive cleansing or purification from sin.  Further proof of this is seen here:

In the above verses we understand that the animal sacrifices made by priests according to the Old Testament law could “never take away sins“.   But Jesus, an eternal priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20), “by one sacrifice…has made perfect forever those who are being made holy“.  If by Jesus’ sacrifice (“once for all”), we are made holy forever, what need would there be for another Savior?

But What About The Water Of Life?

As mentioned earlier, the WMSCOG missionary that taught this lesson, drew a parallel between the heifer’s ashes mixed with water (Numbers 9:9)  and the water of life in Revelation 22:17 and concluded that faith in the “mother god” was necessary for cleansing from sin, and therefore was synonymous with the water of life necessary for salvation.  But who does the Bible say is the water of life?

In the above verse, Jesus tells us that He is the water “welling up to eternal life“.  Therefore, Zahng Gil Jah can not represent the water of life.

Did Zahng Gil Jah Fulfill The Prophecy Of The Sacrificial Heifer In Numbers 19?

Due to the clear connections between the sacrificial heifer and Jesus’ sacrifice I would have to conclude NO.  By Jesus’ sacrifice we receive the purification of sins forever, a claim that could never be made with regards to the ceremonial requirements of the Old Testament law.  Not only did Zahng Gil Jah NOT fulfill the prophecy of the sacrificial heifer, there was no need for anyone else to do so.

Conclusion

It is abundantly clear by the above historical and Biblical analysis that the World Mission Society Church of God’s lesson on “Clean and Unclean Animals” is severely flawed.  One could only agree with their interpretation if one completely ignores the historical and Biblical context.  So in summary, the WMSCOG argument remains unsupported for the following reasons:

1. It can be concluded that the choice of a female animal was in direct opposition to the Egyptian worship of the pagan goddess Isis (represented by a red heifer) and NOT to imply that there was ever a female counterpart to the One Almighty God.  The pagan Egyptians, like the WMSCOG, believe that the red heifer represents their “mother god”.
2. The idolatrous worship of a female god provokes God to anger (Jeremiah 7:18).
3. The sacrifice of female animals was already in practice prior to the requirement to sacrifice a heifer, as evidenced by Leviticus 3:1.
4. Jesus fulfilled the requirement of all animal sacrifices, whether male or female, as clearly noted in Hebrews 9:13-14.
5. Jesus’ sacrifice atoned once for all and forever, for all of our sins ( Hebrews 10:10-14), therefore there will never be a reason for another “god” to exist.
6. Jesus said He is the water of life, therefore Zahng Gil Jah is not and never will be.

Also see: Does Zhang Gil Jah Fulfill The Prophecy Of The Heifer In Numbers 19? Or Is She Just A Cow?

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.

Among World Mission Society Church of God members, there has been some discussion concerning the “marriage” between Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah (Jang Gil Ja). Were they ever legally married?  Had they divorced their spouses prior to being involved with one another?  Did Ahn Sahng Hong or Zahng Gil Jah ever have children together, or in their previous marriages?  When I was a member of the World Mission Society Church of God, I remember asking a high ranking member if Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah had ever had children.  I was told that they had not.   I later asked another high ranking member if Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah had ever been married to other people.  The WMSCOG member explained that “people spread lies about father and mother on the Internet to persecute the church of god”.  I took that answer to be a “no”.

Interview with the NCPCOG

We recently contacted the New Covenant Passover Church of God (NCPCOG) in S. Korea and conducted an interview with a missionary of the organization in an attempt to gain more answers concerning Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah’s supposed marriage.  According to the NCPCOG missionary:

1. Ahn Sahng Hong was legally married to a woman named Hwang Won Soon and together they had three children.  (By the way his children’s names are written on the back of his tombstone)
2. One of Ahn Sahng Hong’s three children remains a member of the NCPCOG
3. Ahn Sahng Hong never legally divorced his wife Hwang Won Soon.  Hwang Won Soon died about three years ago (~2008).
4. Ahn Sahng Hong never legally married ZhangGilJah.

Ahn Sahng Song Refutes the Idea of a “Mother God”

The NCPCOG missionary explained that Ahn Sahng Hong wrote a book entitled “새  예루살렘과  신부  여자들의  수건  문제  해  석” or “Problems with the New Jerusalem, the Bride and Women’s Veils”.  The NCPCOG informed us that they are in the process of having Ahn Sahng Hong’s book translated into English in order to publish an English version of the book on their website.  According to our source at the NCPCOG, Ahn Sahng Hong wrote this book in response to a woman named Um Soo In (엄수인) who claimed that she was the “mother god” prior to Zahng Gil Jah making the same claim after Ahn Sahng Hong’s death.  Below is the translation of the preface of the book:

In the preface to “Problems with the New Jerusalem, the Bride and Women’s Veils“, Ahn Sahng Hong warns readers that this woman named Um Soo In, who a South Korean cult says was Ahn Sahng Hong’s first spiritual wife, is leading people to destruction.  What did Um Soo In do or say that Ahn Sahng Hong felt compelled to write an entire book refuting her claims?  Below are some revealing quotes from Ahn Sahng Hong’s book.

After quoting Revelation 21:1-2, Ahn Sahng Hong writes:

Ahn Sahng Hong quotes Galatians 4:22-26 and then writes:

Wait a minute.  Not only is Ahn Sahng Hong’s interpretation of Galatians 4:22-24 different from the WMSCOG’s interpretation here, but evidently UmSooIn used the same verses to claim that she was the “mother god” that the WMSCOG uses to claim that ZahngGilJah is the “mother god”.

From the above passage, it seems that Um Soo In publicly criticized Ahn Sahng Hong calling him “the blind Isaac” though it is not clear why.  Ahn Sahng Hong calls Um Soo In a delusional, false prophet for claiming that she is the “Jerusalem from above”.  Would Ahn Sahng Hong say the same about Zahng Gil Jah if he were alive today?

In Chapter 8, Ahn Sahng Hong writes that Jerusalem is an actual place and not a person:

After reading these quotes from Ahn Sahng Hong’s book, it becomes clear that he:

1. did not believe that there was such a thing as a “mother god”
2. believed that UmSooIn was delusional for claiming to be Sarah or the New Jerusalem
3. believed that the New Jerusalem is a place and not a person

The Rights to Publish Ahn Sahng Hong’s Writings

Despite the evidence presented here, some of our readers may dismiss the literature on the NCPCOG website as fraudulent.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. If the NCPCOG did not have the right to Ahn Sahng Hong’s books, why would the WMSCOG allow them to freely publish his writings on the Internet for everyone to see?  Would they not have claimed copyright infringement?  (You can click here to see all of Ahn Sahng Hong’s books on the NCPCOG site)
2. Why does the WMSCOG only allow their members to read Ahn Sahng Hong’s books?  (For those of you who have never been in the WMSCOG, you can not readily purchase their books outside of the church)
3. If the book titled, “Problems with the New Jerusalem, the Bride and Women’s Veils“ was not Ahn Sahng Hong’s true writing, wouldn’t the WMSCOG have claimed defamation or fraud?  Would they not have demanded that the book be taken down from the NCPCOG website?

Conclusion

The fact remains that Ahn Sahng Hong’s books ARE available for the public on the NCPCOG site.  During our interview with the NCPCOG missionary, regarding Zahng Gil Jah he stated, “In Korea, the evidence is so obvious“.  The lack of information written in English remains a barrier for Americans and people in other non-Korean speaking countries.  We applaud the NCPCOG’s efforts in making the information available to the general public and we look forward to seeing the complete English translations of Ahn Sahng Hong’s books on their website soon.  The members of the WMSCOG deserve to know the history of the organization to which they so readily give their time, effort, money, and countless hours of recruiting.

The World Mission Society Church of God believes that Zahng Gil Jah is both the “mother” and “bride” described in the Bible.  How does the WMSCOG arrive at this conclusion?  How do WMSCOG recruiters present this conclusion to potential new recruits?

How They Recruit Using Galatians 4:26

When recruiting in shopping malls, heavily populated areas, or on college campuses, WMSCOG recruiters approach people and ask, “have you ever heard of god the mother in the Bible?”  Regardless of what the person says, as long as they are not immediately shunned away, recruiters quickly open the Bible and begin to explain how they arrive at their conclusion that there is a “female god”.  (When I was a member, I was taught to recruit this way).  The WMSCOG “logic” goes something like this:

1. Revelation 22:17 – WMSCOG recruiters point out that the “Spirit” is capitalized and therefore refers to the Holy Spirit.  The bride has to be “god” because no one else can give us eternal life (as in water of life).  Then, who is the bride?
2. Revelation 21:2 – The holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride for her husband.  Who is the bride’s husband?
3. Revelation 21:9 – The bride is the wife of the Lamb.  Who is the Lamb?
4. John 1:29 – The Lamb is Jesus.  Then who is mother in the bible?
5. Galatians 4:26 – The Jerusalem that is above is our mother.  (I know it’s confusing, hang in there):

So, according to the WMSCOG formula:

mother in the Bible (Galatians 4:26) = Jerusalem above (Galatians 4:26) = Jerusalem bride (Revelation 21:2) = bride wife of Jesus (Revelation 21:9) = bride gives water of life (Revelation 22:17, just like Jesus in John 4:14) =

Therefore, bride is mother god

Clear as mud right?  Anyone can clearly see that this does grave violence to the original meaning of the Scriptures.  If you skip around in the Bible this way doing a keyword search, you can make it say anything you want to.  Unfortunately for the WMSCOG, this interpretation easily fails when we read the verses in their proper context (and by the way, if you thought you could make sense of any book by jumping around all over it, grabbing a line from this chapter and another line from another chapter, you should try this with some other book in your library you’ve read before and see how it very poorly communicates the underlying story).

Problems With The WMSCOG Interpretation

1. While the WMSCOG does not believe that the “bride” in the Bible represents the church, they contradict their own founder, a Korean man named Ahnsahnghong, when he writes that the bride does represent the church.
2. While the WMSCOG believes that the “mother” in Galatians 4:26 represents a “mother god” (whom they also claim is a lady living in Korea named Zahng Gil-Jah), they again contradict their own founder Ahnsahnghong who wrote a book denouncing the idea of a “mother god”.

Galatians 4:26 Grossly Misinterpreted

The WMSCOG continues their pattern of misinterpreting Scripture by completely ignoring the context surrounding their cherry-picked verses.  A person can be seriously mislead by this sort of thinking if the context surrounding Galatians 4:26 is not examined.  Considering the context of Galatians 4 in its entirety, it becomes clear that the apostle Paul was not referring to a “female god”.  Let us read the text as it is written.

Paul begins the chapter by comparing Christians to heirs of their father’s estate (Galatians 4:1-2).  In continuing with this analogy, Paul goes on to explain how we were slaves under the law until Jesus, also born under the law, came to redeem us and adopt us as God’s children, making us heirs of our Father’s Kingdom.

Paul goes on to express his concern for the Galatians because they had turned back to observing “special days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:9-10).  It is clear that Paul is quite disturbed by the behavior of the Galatians when he says “I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you” (Galatians 4:11) and “I am perplexed about you!” (Galatians 4:20). The Galatians seemed to have turned back to observing the ceremonial law of Moses, (“Tell me, you who want to be under the law” Galatians 4:21) despite having learned about redemption through Jesus Christ.

Paul uses the story of Abraham and his two sons to illustrate his point.  Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman (Hagar) and one by a free woman (Sarah).  As we read on in Galatians 4, Paul tells us that what he is about to say should be taken figuratively  (aka metaphorically, allegorically, NOT literally).  

Ahn Sahng Hong also agreed with this interpretation.

When interpreting the above verses figuratively as Paul intended (and flat out says), the following becomes clear:

1. Hagar represents the present city Jerusalem, the old covenant, and therefore her children are slaves.
2. Sarah represents the heavenly city Jerusalem, the new covenant, and therefore her children are free.

Therefore, in Galatians 4:26, it is clear that when Paul says that the “new Jerusalem is our mother” he is referring to the heavenly country Jerusalem as our motherland.  In order to illustrate this more clearly, here are some additional Biblical examples of the word “mother” being used to refer to a country.

For more information on what the word “mother” is used to represent in the Bible, please view this excellent article.

Conclusion

As you can see, Galatians 4:26 taken out of context can mean anything.  However, when we read the verse in context, it is abundantly clear that this verse does not refer to a mother god and Ahn Sahng Hong agreed.  When I was in the WMSCOG, they discouraged us from reading outside the verses they wanted us to memorize because they said we would not be able to understand the Bible on our own.  Actually, I can see another reason why–because doing so quickly leads one to leave the WMSCOG.

The World Mission Society Church of God teaches that Eve is representative of their “mother god” or Zahng Gil Jah despite what their founder Ahn Sahng Hong documented in his books.  As discussed in the article titled, “Who Does Ahn Sahng Hong Believe Is The Bride?”, Ahn Sahng Hong’s own writings prove that he believed that the bride represents the church.  In Chapter 13 (The First Adam and The Last Adam) of “Visitors From The Angelic World”, Ahn Sahng Hong authors many clues as to whom he believed represents the last Eve.  On page 49, Ahn Sahng Hong quotes the apostle Paul as stating:

and then quotes John as stating:

After quoting the above verses, Ahn Sahng Hong concludes on p. 50:

On p. 51 Ahn Sahng Hong states:

On p. 55 Ahn Sahng Hong writes:

In the above quotes Ahn Sahng Hong writes that Eve represents angels, us (people), and saints.  According to Ahn Sahng Hong, Eve represents the members of the church and not a “female image of god”, “mother god”, nor “new jerusalem mother”.  Despite Ahn Sahng Hong‘s interpretation that Eve represents the church, the WMSCOG teaches that the last Eve is Zahng Gil Jah.  It does not make sense that the WMSCOG would teach something contrary to what the person they believed to be “god” wrote in his own books.