This article is dedicated to my friends who were taught by the WMSCOG that Ahn Sahng-Hong did not have any children… only to find out later that he did.

[See image gallery at www.examiningthewmscog.com] I have friends who were in the World Mission Society Church Of God for a long time.  Many were told that the supposed founder Ahn Sahng-Hong had no family.  As it turns out, he did.

Not only are Ahn’s childrens names purportedly written on his tombstone, but the February 2012 issue of Modern Religion Monthly magazine in South Korea contains an interview with Ahn Sahng-Hong’s eldest son Ahn Kwang-Sup.  (He uses a nick-name as his first name).

If you would like to get in touch with Ahn Kwang-Sup, he is still a member of the New Covenant Passover Church of God (NCPCOG) today, the church that Ahn Sahng-Hong founded.  (Click here to see a picture of Ahnsahnghong with his son on right, or here for more pics).

Ahn Kwang-Sup confirms in the interview that his father, Ahn Sahng-Hong, did not believe in a mother god.  Here are the highlights from the interview:

• Ahn Sahng-Hong did not believe in a mother god.  Neither does the NCPCOG.
• Ahn Sahng-Hong wrote against the idea of there being any mother god in his book.
• Ahn Sahng-Hong was married to Hwang Won-Soon (click here and here to see pictures of Ahn Sahng-Hong with his wife Hwang Won Soon and their daughter).
• Ahn Sahng-Hong only prayed in the name of Jesus Christ.
• The NCPCOG only prays in the name of Jesus Christ.
• 2012 is the end of the world according to both the NCPCOG and the WMSCOG (see further supporting evidence for this here).
• The Ahn official family register was provided by Ahn Kwang-Sup to the magazine as evidence that Zhang Gil Jah was never Ahnsahnghong’s wife (pictures in the article).

The interview has been re-published below by permission from Modern Religion Monthly magazine in both PDF and Text format for your reading enjoyment.  The language and opinions adopted in the article do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of this site or its ownership.

Certified English Translation

https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/media/interview-with-ahn-sahng-hongs-son/Interview-With-Ahn-Sahng-Hongs-Son-English.pdf

Download The English Translation PDF (1.2 MB)

Original Korean Article

https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/media/interview-with-ahn-sahng-hongs-son/Interview-With-Ahn-Sahng-Hongs-Son-Korean.pdf

Download the Original Korean Article PDF (803 KB)

Pictures of the Magazine

Here are shots of a copy of the magazine

[See image gallery at www.examiningthewmscog.com]

Text Format – February 2012 issue of Modern Religion Monthly

Table of Contents

Interview with Ahnsahnghong’s Son – Korean

Interview with Ahnsahnghong’s Son – English Certified Translation

Official Family Register Docs – Korean/Chinese

Official Family Register Docs – English Certified Translation

__________________________________________________________________________________________

28_   The Church of God is Zhang Gil-Jah’s Congregation!

34_   Shock! Obscene JMS syndicate revealed!

39_   Compensation Committee prepares for demise of JMS

44_   Unification Church’s relationship with North Korea transcends law

48_   Hannong Agricultural Corporation poses threat

53_   Korea World Missions Association’s interCP releases interim report

The Church of God is Zhang Gil-Ja’s Congregation!

Ahn Sahng-Hong’s son Ahn Kwang-Sup speaks out about the Church of God

coverage:  Tak Ji Il editor
written by: Lee Seoung Yun reporter

The Church of God, which believes that Ahn Sahng-Hong is God the Father, appeared on the scene after Ahn’s death. It also deifies Ahn’s wife, Zhang Gil-Ja, as “the Heavenly Mother”.  The Church of God is expanding its influence by upholding its public image as an active participant in community volunteer services. However, the Church is being criticized by the New Covenant Passover Church of God (New Covenant Church) which reportedly follows the teachings of pastor Ahn and the traditions of the organization. Each congregation claims that it is based on the authentic teachings of Ahn Sahng-Hong. Ahn Kwang-Sup, a son of Ahn Sahng-Hong as well as an elder of the New Covenant Church, spoke to us about The Church of God.

Is Zhang Gil-Ja the wife of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

After Ahn’s death, the congregation went two separate ways: the God of Church that believes in Zhang Gil-Ja as the Heavenly Mother and the New Covenant Church that adheres to the traditional doctrine of Ahn. The Church of God proclaimed that Zhang was the Spiritual Mother, on the grounds of a wedding photo of Ahn and Zhang. According to the testimony we received from a victim based in America, the Church of God in the U.S. currently presents Zhang as the first wife of Ahn; a claim that Ahn’s own son, Ahn Kwang-Sup, does not accept. Ahn made it clear that Zhang was not his father’s wife, citing Ahn’s Detailed Family Census Register as evidence. On the Register, Hwang Won-Soon is recorded as Ahn’s wife and it says that she “reported the marriage with Ahn Sahng-Hong on the 5th of April 1958”.  The name Zhang Gil-Ja is not found anywhere in the register. Ahn Kwang-Sup stressed that Zhang could not have been the first wife and he did not verify Zhang’s wedding photo, saying that he had never seen it before.

Is Zhang Gil-Ja the Heavenly Mother?

The Church of God emphasizes that the images of man and woman are contained within the image of God and that Eve symbolizes the bride of the Second Coming of the Christ. It claims that the ‘Heavenly Jerusalem’ mentioned in the Revelation of John implies the bride and thus points to Zhang Gil-Ja, since she is the Heavenly bride chosen by Ahn Sahng-Hong. The claim is dismissed by Ahn Kwang-Sup as “a load of nonsense”.  “The Heavenly Mother is not part of Ahn Sahng-Hong’s teachings”, he said. When Ahn was alive, “a person called Um Soo-In once claimed that she was the bride and Ahn Sahng-Hong rebuked the claim in writing”, he added. According to Ahn Kwang-Sup, pastor Ahn had never taught about the Heavenly Mother and had clearly written that “the bride means the New Heavenly Jerusalem as recorded in the Revelation of John 21:9-10 and the new Jerusalem translates into 144,000 members of the congregation”.

Is Kim Joo-Cheol the successor of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

The Church of God claims that Kim Joo-Cheol – the leader of the Church of God – is the successor of Ahn, because Ahn dressed Kim in full ceremonial uniform and took a photo of Kim. The New Covenant Church suspects that the photo may have been forged. Even if the photo was genuine, the Church maintains that Kim cannot be accepted as the successor on the basis of a single photo. Ahn Kwang-Sup criticized Kim’s claim, saying that “Kim proclaims to be Ahn’s successor but that is just his opinion”. “It is not known whether Kim put on the uniform himself at the time. Pastor Ahn had never publically dressed Kim in a formal ceremony”, he said curtly. As far as he is concerned, Kim has never been formally appointed as the successor by Ahn.

Is Ahn Sahng-Hong the Saviour?

The service performed at the New Covenant Church is not much different from that of the mainstream churches. The parishioners pray in the name of ‘Jesus Christ’ and recite the Lord’s Prayer. They sing unmodified mainstream hymns. Like the Seventh-day Adventists, they observe Saturday as the Sabbath day. “The New Covenant Church worships God in the same way we did when pastor Ahn was alive’, Ahn Kwang-Sup said.  He pointed out that the Church of God changed the service format to suit its own views. “Although the Church of God prays in the name of pastor Ahn Sahng-Hong, Ahn was not the saviour of people, he was just someone who found the truth people had lost”, he stated. “The New Covenant Church believes in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and pastor Ahn himself made it clear that only the work of Jesus could save us”. The Church of God, however, believes in Ahn Sahng-Hong as the Saviour. In its full articles of incorporation, the Church states that “we believe in the truth that we will be saved by the Heavenly Spiritual Father Ahn Sahng-Hong who came to the world, as written in the Bible, and by believing in the Bride of the Heavenly Father, Zhang Gil-Ja”.

25th of December marks the Nativity of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

Church of God criticizes the Christmas day celebrations held by the traditional churches as worshiping the historic Sun God and it celebrates the day to commemorate the nativity of Ahn Sahng-Hong. One member of the Church describes the meaning of the nativity day in his internet blog as follows; ‘since the mainstream churches do not know the exact birth date of Jesus, celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December has no meaning whatsoever. The members of the Church of God know the exact birth date of Ahn Sahng-Hong and celebrate the day accordingly”.  Is Ahn Sahng-Hong’s birthday the 25th of December, as this believer claims? In the Detailed Family Census Register, Ahn’s citizen ID is recorded as “180113-OOOOOOO’. He was born on the ’13th of Jan 1918′ in Myungduk-ri Gyenam myun, Jangsoo-gun, Jullabukdo.

Ahn’s teaching on 144,000

In his book called [The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life], pastor Ahn concludes that the number of people saved will be no more than 144,000. He also claims that “2012 will be the end of the world” in [While the Bridegroom Tarries, All the People Fall Asleep?]. In a nutshell, the world will end in 2012 and only 144,000 people will be saved.  The Church of God supports this prediction and is secretly spreading the message. The number of believers in the Church, however, is currently over 144,000. The Church claims that the number reached 1.45 million according to its own survey, which would mean that less than 10% of the congregation will be saved.  Criticizing such a claim, Ahn Kwang-Sup said, “When we are talking of the number 144,000, it is fraudulent to boast the figure that goes beyond a million. The Church of God essentially deviates from the foundation laid by pastor Ahn”.  “Pastor Ahn talks about the last day of the world in 2012 but he also said that we need to fill the number 144,000. So we need to fulfil this number first”, he added.

The claims made by Ahn Kwang-Sup, the son of pastor Ahn Sahng-Hong, indicates that the Church of God has little to do with Ahn Sahng-Hong at present. Ahn’s teachings have been twisted and the worship ceremony established by him has lost its original form. While worshipping Ahn Sahng-Hong as the Saviour, the Church further created the Heavenly Mother doctrine and encourages the members to worship Zhang Gil-Ja. This was, however, denied by Ahn in the book written by himself. One ex-member of the Church of God reported that the Church presented Zhang Gil-Ja as the central figure, asking would-be believers whether they “knew about the Heavenly Mother”. In other words, the Church of God has nothing to do with Ahn Sahng-Hong and has everything to do with Zhang Gil-Ja.

The WMSCOG has predicted the end of the world incorrectly at least three times, and 2012 will be next. Even though the WMSCOG predicted the end of the world in 2012, and numerous members have said so, some members are denying ever having said it.

Actually, the WMSCOG did say the world would end in 1988, 1999 and 2012.  It also came out during the fact finding stage of Church of God World Gospel Association vs. Ji Won Tak as recorded by the Northern Seoul Regional Court of South Korea in 2005.  (Church of God World Gospel Association is the direct Korean translation for WMSCOG). A news station in South Korea broadcasted an investigative report on the WMSCOG’s prediction that the world would end in 1999.

Failed Predictions of 1988 and 1999

The judgement in the case of Church of God World Gospel Association vs. Ji Won Tak proves that the WMSCOG predicted the end in 1988 and 1999.

The judgement in the case of WMSCOG v. Kang Geun Byeong & Jo Seong Geun also proves that the WMSCOG predicted the end in 1988, 1999 and 2012.

Some members of the WMSCOG have gone so far as to tell me that the failed 1988 prediction was a “prophesy”.  Alright, I’m sure members will find some way to dismiss one or more failed predictions, but you cannot dismiss all three failed predictions.  Were all three end of the world claims that didn’t come true “prophecy”?

Is the WMSCOG Different From Other Controversial Groups?

The WMSCOG is not the only controversial religious group that has a history of failed predictions.  The Watch Tower Society, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, falsely predicted the end of the world in 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1975.  It is a well-documented fact that the Watch Tower Society subsequently altered their doctrine and deleted the predicted dates from their literature.  William Miller, pioneer of the Adventist movement, also falsely predicted that Jesus would return in 1844.  This caused three divisions in the Millerite movement; each with three separate explanations for the Great Disappointment of 1844.  The third group explained the failed prediction away by claiming that the cleansing of the sanctuary that was predicted to happen on earth in 1844, actually “took place in heaven”.  More recently, Harold Camping falsely predicted that the rapture would occur on May 21, 2011 and when his prediction failed to materialize, he revised his prediction and claimed that what had occurred was a “spiritual” rapture and that the “physical” rapture would happen on October 21, 2011.  News 24 reported a decrease in the number of Camping’s followers following the failed prediction in May of 2011.  We all know that his second prediction did not occur either.

The WMSCOG seems to already be doing some damage control in advance of 2012.  In 2010, it was stated on one of their many member-run Internet blogs in an article titled “Heavenly Mother Jerusalem and 2012” that:

Rumors?  It appears to be documented by the court in Church of God World Gospel Association vs. Ji Won Tak.

Bringing You The Information

One of the great things about this site (www.examiningthewmscog.com) is that we obtain the information directly from South Korea, and have it translate into English for you to read.  If there was less of a  language barrier you would know much more about this group and their history.  For instance, you would have known about:

• Their three failed end-of-the-world predictions (see the Ji Won Tak case pages 3, 5-6 and the Kang/Jo case page 5)
• 300 of their members causing disruption outside a man’s store and with some members assaulting him after he chose to leave the WMSCOG and speak out against the organization according to this court case pages 4, 7-8.
• That Ahn Sahng Hong is buried in a cemetery where at least two other people who claim to be Jesus are buried.. and that’s just one cemetery
• That there was a split in the church that Ahnsahnghong established (New Covenant Passover Church of God) after he died, and that his original church is still active (see the court case pages 3, 6-7)

In fact, if you could read Korean, you would know that Ahn Sahn Hong’s own son isn’t even a member of the WMSCOG. He is a leader in the NCPCOG.  

Unfortunately, the WMSCOG has incorrectly predicted the end of the world at least three times now.  Failed predictions are the sign of a false prophet. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 says:

This should be sufficient proof that Ahn Sahng Hong was not god. If you are looking for more evidence, click here.

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

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

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.

Whether you agree with him or not, Ahn Sahng Hong had a group of followers while he was alive.  (I guess that isn’t saying much though since even the likes of Jim Jones and David Koresh had followers).  What is of interest to us though, is what happened to those followers after Ahn Sahng Hong died in 1985?

His Followers Split

It seems that after the death of Ahn Sahng Hong in 1985, his followers split into two groups, that both claim him as their founder.  The first group is called the New Covenant Passover Church of God (NCPCOG).  This group strictly follows the teachings of Ahn Sahng Hong according to his writings (many of those teachings are easily debunked by first-year seminary students, or articles in our doctrine section).  This group does not believe in the “mother god”, a.k.a. a Korean lady named Zahng Gil Jah.  Their web site clearly lays out how they follow the teachings of Ahn Sahng Hong, and that there is no support anywhere in either his writings or in the Bible for a “mother god”.

Somehow or another, (for reasons probably known only to Zahng Gil Jah (Jang Gil Ja) and others who were around at the time), some of Ahn Sahng Hong’s followers began to teach that Zahng Gil Jah (Ahn Sahng Hong’s former lover) was god.  This group of followers is today called the “World Mission Society Church of God“.

So Who Is Right?

From what we’ve read in Ahn Sahng Hong’s writings, he never claims to be divine, and he also denounced the idea of a mother god.  When my  friends in the WMSCOG try to argue for the existence of a “mother god”, they use the same three tired, old, Scripture-twisting arguments that have already been completely debunked in our doctrine section and elsewhere, namely:  Genesis 1, the word “elohim“, and Revelation 21.  Ahn Sahng Hong debunked the misinterpretations of the same verses that the WMSCOG uses to argue that there is a “mother god” in one of his books.  The WMSCOG never uses Ahn Sahng Hong’s writings to argue for the Korean lady Zahng Gil Jah to be god.  Rather telling, isn’t it?

If Ahn Sahng Hong Had Said It, There’d Be No Split

The WMSCOG proves our point for us in that the members never argue from Ahn Sahng Hong’s own writings for the existence of a mother god, but instead try to twist Scripture to invent their proof.  If Ahn Sahng Hong had ever actually said anything to support the existence of a “mother god”, then the New Covenant Passover Church of God, wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, would it?  Instead though, what we find the reality on the ground is that the New Covenant Passover Church of God is very much alive and preaching against the WMSCOG and a “mother god” on their site.  Unlike the WMSCOG, they even pray in the name of Jesus.  In my opinion, even though I disagree with and have already disproved what Ahn Sahng Hong taught, I’d say that at least the New Covenant Passover Church of God is following the teachings of their founder Ahn Sahng Hong, whereas the WMSCOG contradicts him.

You be the judge though.  What are your thoughts?