Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony

A Korean church founded in 1984 that holds its chairman, Lee Man-hee, to be the promised pastor sent by Jesus to show that the book of Revelation is being fulfilled now, and that its twelve tribes are the people of God.

Shincheonji, “Words of Greeting” (English; rendered page and the chairman’s greeting)

Shincheonji, “The Twelve Tribes” (English)

Shincheonji, “Organization” (English)

Shincheonji, “Zion Christian Mission Center” (English)

Shincheonji, “Words of the Chairman” (English letters, May and April 2026)

Shincheonji, 교회소개 and 연혁 (Korean introduction and history page)

Shincheonji, “Locations” (headquarters address)

Shincheonji church news, 신천지예수교회, 유월절 실상과 참의미 공개 (16 January 2022, Korean)

Shincheonji church news, 유월절 기념예배 및 제41차 정기총회 성료 (16 January 2025, Korean)

Shincheonji newsletter 하늘샘물, 유월절 기념 예배 및 제41차 정기 총회 진행 (6 February 2025, Korean)

Shincheonji newsletter 하늘샘물, 신천지 성도들, 매주 수요 예배에 계시록 설교 시작 (27 August 2023, Korean)

Shincheonji church news, 주일예배에 8만 인파 운집한 신천지예수교회 (8 September 2024, Korean)

Shincheonji newsletter 하늘샘물, 신천지예수교 증거장막성전을 소개합니다 (27 February 2024, Korean)

Shincheonji statement on the arrest warrant (25 June 2026, Korean)

Shincheonji statement on the rejected review of detention (29 June 2026, Korean)

Shincheonji, [사과문] apology over members’ party membership (20 August 2026, Korean)

Young Sang Kim, The Shincheonji religious movement: a critical evaluation (MA thesis, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, 2016)

William Chong, “A Korean Sect Targeted New Zealand Christians. Did Churches Respond Effectively?”, Christianity Today (13 December 2023)

Lee Man-hee, 종교 역사와 종말 (the chairman’s message, 10 December 2022, Korean)

Lee Man-hee, 새 하늘 새 땅 새 나라 새 민족 12지파 창조 (the chairman’s message, 17 September 2022, Korean)

Lee Man-hee, 감추었던 천국 비밀 ‘만나와 피’ (the chairman’s message, 24 January 2022, Korean)

Shincheonji newsletter 하늘샘물, report of the 110th Zion Christian Mission Center graduation of 10 November 2019 (Korean)

The Korea Times (Yonhap), “Shincheonji leader’s trial over forced party memberships to begin July 24” (7 July 2026)

The Kyunghyang Shinmun, Lee Man-hee indicted without detention over 7.57 billion won tax evasion (24 July 2026, English edition)

Taipei Times (wire), “S Korean church leader arrested” (26 June 2026)

JoongAng Daily, “Religion-politics probe ends with Shincheonji, Unification Church leaders among 32 indicted” (31 August 2026)

JoongAng Daily, “Shincheonji dogged by embezzlement allegations over legal defense fund to protect founder” (9 February 2026)

Michael Lee, JoongAng Daily, “Daegu court acquits 8 Shincheonji officials of charges” (3 February 2021)

The Korea Times (Yonhap), “Supreme Court upholds acquittal of Shincheonji leader” (12 August 2022)

Heo Kyung-jun, Asia Economy, Lee Man-hee acquitted of quarantine obstruction (12 August 2022)

Shincheonji is one of the youngest bodies charted here, and almost everything about its beginnings comes from its own account. The church's pages date its founding to 1984 and say little about the years before. Most of what can be checked and dated comes from courts and news reports after 2020, when a COVID-19 outbreak in Daegu made the church known across Korea, and from the criminal case that began in 2026. Those are reported here as the record states them. Nothing in this part is a finding about doctrine.

Chairman Lee founds the church

The church's Korean introduction says the promised pastor, Chairman Lee Man-hee, founded the church on earth in 1984. The church's English greeting tells of his earlier years: he served for many years as a member of the "Tabernacle Temple" in Gwacheon, criticized it after it “had become corrupt”, and later “received a revelation (the opened book)” that sent him to testify to the churches. The church gives no dates for those earlier steps.

The Daegu outbreak

A member in Daegu tested positive for COVID-19 on 18 February 2020 (The Korea Times), and the outbreak among the church's worshipers in Daegu that February and March briefly made Korea the country with the largest outbreak outside China (JoongAng Daily). Counts differ by source. In early 2021 the JoongAng Daily, citing government data, put the cases found among the church's members and their contacts at 5,213 of 78,000 in the country; the Korea Times in 2022 said about 4,000 members tested positive. Chairman Lee apologized at a press conference outside his home in March 2020 (JoongAng Daily).

Arrest and a defense fund

After questioning Lee twice, prosecutors sought an arrest warrant, and a court approved it on 1 August 2020 (JoongAng Daily, 2026). The church began collecting money for his defense in July 2020. JoongAng reported, from prosecutorial records, that it collected about 17 billion won from members by March 2021. That report also says prosecutors decided in June 2021 not to indict Lee on an embezzlement count over a complaint that church money had been diverted to hire lawyers, because the evidence was insufficient.

Court clears the officials of obstructing the survey

In January 2021 the Suwon District Court acquitted Lee of impeding the epidemiological survey but convicted him of other charges, including embezzlement, with a suspended three-year sentence. On 3 February 2021 the Daegu District Court acquitted eight church officials of impeding the survey and obstructing health authorities; the judge said an incomplete list of worshipers handed over in the early stage of a survey was not a crime (JoongAng Daily).

The Supreme Court rules

On 12 August 2022 the Supreme Court upheld Lee's acquittal on the charge of obstructing the government's COVID response, and upheld the appeals court's sentence of three years, suspended for five years (the first court had suspended it for four), for embezzlement and obstruction (The Korea Times, citing Yonhap; Asia Economy). Those counts had nothing to do with the virus: they concerned about 5.6 billion won of church funds used in building the Peace Palace, the church's training center, and church events held at public facilities such as Suwon World Cup Stadium without permission between 2015 and 2019. The Korea Times names the second charge as obstruction of public duty, and Asia Economy names it obstruction of business.

Members begin to preach on Wednesdays

From 19 July 2023, the church says, members with no preaching experience began leading Wednesday worship by preaching on Revelation at its churches across Korea, which it called a first among churches at home and abroad. It reported that adults, students and children took part.

Signs changed at existing churches

The church's own history page lists, from 2023 on, existing churches abroad whose signs were replaced with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus sign, and, from 2024, Korean churches registered as "cooperating churches" and given the new sign. It gives yearly counts and does not say what the change involves for those congregations. (Our translation of the Korean page.)

Joint investigation begins

On 6 January 2026 a joint team of prosecutors and police began an eight-month investigation into ties between religious groups and politics. In Shincheonji's case it examined claims that members were pressured to join a political party, church-wide tax evasion, embezzlement by a former general affairs chief, and illegal campaigning ahead of a party primary (JoongAng Daily).

Lee Man-hee is arrested and indicted

A Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for Lee, then 95, on 24 June 2026 and cited a risk that he would destroy evidence (Taipei Times, wire report). The church said it regretted the decision and raised his age and health. By the church's own statement, the court rejected his request to review the legality of his detention on 28 June. He was indicted in detention on 29 June on charges of systematically pressuring followers to join a political party before the 2022 presidential election, including by assigning quotas to branches (JoongAng Daily). The Seoul Central District Court set the first hearing for 24 July; the charge as reported is forcing at least 56,472 members to join the party between July 2021 and January 2024 (The Korea Times, citing Yonhap). On 24 July he was also indicted, without detention, on a charge of evading about 7.57 billion won in corporate and value-added taxes from 2016 to 2020 through church concession stands, a case prosecutors had closed without charges in October 2021 and reopened in 2026 (The Kyunghyang Shinmun). These are charges, and no verdict is reported in the sources we could verify. The church denies the accusations (Taipei Times) and says it will answer them at trial.

The church apologizes

On 20 August 2026 the church's acting general secretary and the twelve tribe leaders issued a public apology for the social controversy caused by members joining a political party, and pledged strict political neutrality (the church's own notice, our translation).

Thirty-two people indicted

On 31 August 2026 the investigation ended with 32 people indicted, 16 of them tied to Shincheonji and 16 to the Unification Church. The Shincheonji indictments included Lee and the former general affairs chief, Ko Dong-an, who was indicted in detention on 13 July on a related charge and, without detention, on a charge of embezzling about 6 billion won of church funds (JoongAng Daily). The sources we could verify carry the cases no further than the indictments and the scheduling of Lee's trial.

Lee Man-hee

Founder and chairman. The church says he is the promised pastor and "the one who overcomes" (the church's greeting), a descendant of Korea's royal house, who began his life of faith in childhood and was later sent as a messenger to the churches. The Taipei Times describes him as a self-proclaimed messenger of Jesus. The church treats his reading of Revelation as the true one.

Ko Dong-an

A senior church officer who was indicted in 2026 (see the history above). The JoongAng Daily calls him both former secretary general and former general affairs chief.

The twelve tribe leaders

Each of the twelve tribes in Korea has a leader, and each tribe is named for an apostle (John, Peter, Busan James, Andrew, Thaddaeus, Philip, Simon, Bartholomew, Matthew, Matthias, Seoul James, Thomas). JoongAng reported that the tribe leaders met in an emergency session in 2020 and decided to collect the defense fund. In 2026 they joined the acting general secretary in the public apology.

What the church says about itself. The church's greeting tells its story in the third person: a boy who prayed with his grandfather, a "blood covenant" sworn on a mountain, a spirit from heaven, a voice that told him to go to the Tabernacle Temple, and then the "opened book" of Revelation 10. It says he learned he was the messenger of Revelation 22:16. This is the church's account, and it is given here as the church gives it.

Dates we could not close from the church. The church's pages do not date the formation of the twelve tribes or the move to Gwacheon. Other sources give dates for the years before 1984, but none we could read in full is a primary source, so none is used.

A successor. None of the sources names a successor to Chairman Lee. Korean reports of how the church might be led afterward are analysis and not an announced decision, and are not used here.

Custody. The record we could verify gives his custody only as far as his indictment in detention on 29 June 2026 and the first hearing set for 24 July. Later Korean reports of a health-based suspension of his detention disagree on dates, so none is stated here, and this chart does not say whether he is held today.

The Bible, read through the chairman, who has seen the fulfillment of Revelation and whose testimony Shincheonji treats as the key to it.

Shincheonji says it teaches “nothing but the word of the Bible”, and its pages are full of Scripture references. Its teaching is that Revelation is the "new covenant" and has now been fulfilled in physical events that only the chairman has seen and heard. The chairman is the messenger of Revelation 22:16, and members are taught that one learns the true meaning of Revelation from his testimony. The church invites readers to test this against the Bible, and asks them to believe the New Testament's prophecies even if they do not trust him. In its own telling the revealed word is something to match "100 percent": at Cheongju in 2024, the church reports, the chairman told members this word is life and that their faith must agree with it completely.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.

You will know this is the truth if you compare the promises of the Bible, which are prophecies of Revelation, and the fulfillment of the prophecies (physical entities).

The New Covenant is the book of Revelation.

The test it proposes. The greeting says “Chairman Lee, who says that he was given the task of a messenger to testify to the truth that the heavens showed him although he is unworthy, requests that we believe in what he was commanded to testify to after seeing and hearing the fulfillment of the prophecies in the New Testament, even if we do not trust him.”

Agreement with the revealed word. The church's report of the Cheongju service quotes the chairman: "이 말씀이 생명이다. 이 말씀과 100% 일치된 신앙을 해야 하며, 이는 곧 하나님과 하나가 되는 것" (our translation: This word is life. One must keep a faith that agrees 100 percent with this word, and that is to become one with God.)

Salvation belongs to those sealed in the twelve tribes by the revealed word; a person enters through the course and its final exam, and the church’s account of entry names no baptism.

Shincheonji teaches that after the "judgment" of Revelation 6, people are sealed in Revelation 7 by the revealed word, and that salvation belongs to those registered in the twelve tribes who also master Revelation. The way in, on the church's pages, is its free Bible course, which it says "seals" those harvested with the new word and so creates the tribes. The same pages teach that Catholics, Protestants and all others who have "added to or taken away from" Revelation will not enter heaven. The church's own account of how a person enters says nothing of baptism: a student who finishes the course takes a final examination and is then admitted as a full member. We searched the church's site for baptism in Korean and English. 세례 appears only in the name of John the Baptist, 침례 only in the name of the Baptist denomination, and 물세례 (water baptism) not at all. We do not say that no member is ever baptized, only that the church's published teaching does not make baptism part of entry.

선교센터 과정을 마친 수강생은 수료 종합시험을 치른 후 신천지예수교회에 입교하여 정식 성도로 인정받고 신앙을 하게 된다 (our translation: a student who has finished the mission center course takes the comprehensive graduation examination, then enters Shincheonji Church of Jesus, is recognized as a full member, and lives the life of faith there)

Only those who are sealed in Revelation chapter 7, registered in the 12 tribes, and master the Book of Revelation can be saved.

Zion Christian Mission Center is a free (Rev 22:17) Bible center that seals those who have been harvested with the new Word (new song)—that is, the revealed word of fulfilled prophecy—thereby creating the twelve tribes.

Who is outside. The tribes page says “It is said that those who do not belong to the 12 Tribes are not found as the people of God’s kingdom at the end of age”. A critic, Young Sang Kim, writes in his thesis: “Lee teaches that unless people join Shincheonji, they can neither be saved nor can they belong to the prophesied number of sealed people, 144,000.” The church's chairman writes that “one must be one of the people in Revelation 7 to receive salvation” and “One must belong to these 12 tribes and fully understand Revelation in order to receive salvation.”

The graduation. The church's report of its 2019 graduation lists the order of the ceremony: national rites and greetings, the chairman's sermon, an offering and a prayer of blessing, the certificates, the turning of the tassel, and graduates' testimonies. No baptism is listed.

Exams. The church says members take frequent "sealing confirmation" examinations on Revelation (our translation of the Korean introduction), as the way to carry the covenant in mind and heart.

An annual Passover memorial worship in mid-January; Jesus’ flesh and blood are read as the revealed word, and the new covenant as Revelation.

Shincheonji keeps a Passover memorial service once a year, in mid-January, together with its general assembly; the chairman preaches. The church teaches that at the Passover table Jesus made the new covenant, that the new covenant is the book of Revelation, and that his words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood are fulfilled today when members hear and keep the revealed word. The church's 2025 report says the Passover it keeps is a feast to hear the revealed word, which Jesus' blood and flesh stand for, and to give thanks for salvation from the plagues foretold in Revelation. The chairman has said that Jesus' blood was shed for the twelve-tribe priests and that these priests are the ones who will partake of it, and he still calls it the saving blood of Jesus Christ, the Passover lamb. The pages we read describe a sermon, an assembly and an awards ceremony. They do not describe bread or a cup, and we do not say whether the church uses them.

In Luke 22, Jesus made the New Covenant with his blood (and flesh). This new covenant is a promise that new wine (the new revealed word) would be drunk when the kingdom of God comes (Lk 22:14-20).

초림 때 흘린 예수님의 피는 계시록이 이뤄질 때 12지파 제사장들을 위해 흘린 것이며 그 피를 먹을 자는 바로 이 제사장들 (our translation: The blood Jesus shed at his first coming was shed for the priests of the twelve tribes when Revelation is fulfilled, and those who will partake of that blood are these priests)

예수님이 이 책을 열어 눅 22장 14-20절의 새 언약같이 예수님의 살과 피 곧 예수님의 계시 말씀을 먹게 하셨다 (our translation: Jesus opened this book and, as in the new covenant of Luke 22:14-20, had them eat Jesus' flesh and blood, that is, Jesus' revealed word)

Kept once a year. The church's January 2025 report calls the Passover memorial service and general assembly 연례 주요 행사 (our translation: a major annual event). It says the Passover kept at Shincheonji is more than the memory of Moses' day and joins Jesus' promise in Luke 22:16 to the fulfillment of Revelation. In 2022 the church dated the Passover to 14 January and held the memorial service on the 16th.

The blood as the word. In another message the chairman writes: "하나님과 예수님의 피는 곧 생명의 말씀이다" (our translation: the blood of God and Jesus is the word of life), and that whoever has received this word has received Jesus' blood. His 2025 Passover sermon said: "오늘날의 유월절은 계시록 말씀을 통해 영생의 양식을 먹고 인 맞은 자들이 구원받는 시대" (our translation: today's Passover is the age in which those who eat the food of eternal life through the word of Revelation and are sealed are saved).

What we did not find. No page we read describes the bread, the cup, who may take part, or how the Lord's Supper is kept apart from this service.

One chairman, the promised pastor, over twelve tribe leaders and a headquarters of departments.

Shincheonji is led from the top. The chairman is the promised pastor who established the church. Under him, the church's organization chart shows a headquarters managing director and twenty-four departments (general affairs, finance, theology, judicial affairs and others), and twelve tribes, each named for an apostle and each with its own leader and branch churches. The church says the organization was made “exactly like the pattern Chairman saw from the heaven promised in the New Testament”. The church also teaches that all its members are being made into pastors and priests, and its Wednesday worship lets ordinary members preach, but doctrine itself comes from the chairman.

Just as Moses built a tabernacle on this earth based on the image of heaven shown by God, the promised pastor established Shincheonji on this earth today after seeing the kingdom of heaven in the spiritual realm.

Shincheonji’s throne organization was also created exactly like the pattern Chairman saw from the heaven promised in the New Testament (Heb 8:5, Jn 5:19, Rv 4, Rv 21).

I, the promised pastor chosen by Jesus (Rv 1), am preaching to the churches around the world the fulfillment (the actual entities) of the entire book of Revelation that I have seen and heard, as God and Jesus instructed me, and I will continue to do so.

Tribes and churches. The tribes page names the headquarters tribe: “It is the headquarter tribe centered in Gwacheon, the starting point of Shincheonji history.” Each tribe lists its branch churches in Korea and abroad.

Members as pastors. The church calls its goal the making of every member into a shepherd, 전 성도의 목자화 (our translation), and runs frequent Bible exams to that end.

Worship in a "temple of the testimony": sermons on Revelation, a yearly Passover memorial, and regular exams on the revealed word.

Shincheonji calls its church a temple, and explains: ““Temple” means it is a holy house where saints give worship service to God.” Worship is built around the sermon. Wednesday worship is preached by ordinary members, and the chairman preaches when he visits a church, as at Cheongju in 2024, and at the yearly Passover memorial. Members also sit frequent examinations that the church calls sealing confirmation. The pages we read say nothing of singing, of instruments in worship, or of how prayer is led and to whom, so those are not described here.

“Temple” means it is a holy house where saints give worship service to God.

7월 19일부터 신천지예수교회는 매주 수요 예배 시 설교 경험이 없는 성도가 계시록을 주제로 설교를 시작하였으며 (our translation: From July 19, Shincheonji Church of Jesus began having members with no preaching experience preach on Revelation at each week’s Wednesday worship)

새 언약의 법인 계시록의 예언과 그 이뤄진 실상을 생각과 마음에 새기기 위해 수시로 인 맞음 확인 시험을 치고 있습니다 (our translation: to fix the prophecy of Revelation, the law of the new covenant, and its fulfilled reality in mind and heart, they take sealing-confirmation examinations often)

Gaps. We looked for the church's own text on singing, instruments and prayer and did not find one. The church's history page lists a wind orchestra (the "NHE Wind Orchestra") that won a prize at a national brass-band contest in 2025; its pages do not say it plays in worship.

God’s Spirit goes with the revealed word; the chairman was guided by a spirit from heaven, and spirits stand with the tribes in a heavenly pattern.

Shincheonji does not teach on the Holy Spirit and its gifts the way a creed would, and we found no statement on tongues or healing. What its pages teach is that two kinds of spirits exist, God's and the devil's, and that the Spirit of God goes with the true meaning of Revelation. The church's account of the chairman describes a spirit from heaven who met him, a voice that told him where to go, and heavenly visions of the pattern for the church. It teaches that the tribes on earth match tribes "in the spiritual world" and that Jesus comes as Spirit to fulfill the New Testament through the promised pastor.

Those who do not understand the New Testament, Revelation do not have God’s Spirit with them (see Matthew 13).

Starting from then on, people around him began to persecute him for no reason, and soon after, he met a spirit

At the time of the Second Coming, Jesus, who comes as Spirit (a spiritual body), fulfills all the New Testament through the promised pastor (New John) (Rev 21:6).

The spiritual realm. The organization page sets “Twelve tribes in spiritual world” beside “Twelve Tribes in physical world” and says the church was made like the pattern the chairman saw from heaven. It also lists “Unity of spirit and flesh” with John 14:20.

The last things are here: Revelation 6 is past, the sealed twelve tribes are the church, and judgment divides the world now.

Shincheonji teaches that the end-time events of Revelation are being fulfilled in the present in Korea. The judgment of the "chosen people who betrayed" (Revelation 6) has come, and the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 7 are the twelve tribes of Shincheonji, sealed with the revealed word. The church teaches that this is a time of judgment like the days of Noah and Lot, that the faithful of its tribes will enter heaven, and that those not sealed in the twelve tribes will go to the lake of burning sulfur. It also calls the tribes the tree of life of Revelation 22. The church's pages tie the number 144,000 of Revelation 7 to the tribes.

Today, at the time of the fulfillment of Revelation, after the judgment of the chosen people who betrayed (the first heaven and first earth) in Revelation chapter 6, the new heaven and new earth created as in Revelation chapter 7, sealed and established, are the 12 tribes of Shincheonji.

Today, it is being declared that those who are not sealed into the 12 tribes after Revelation 6 and in Revelation 7 will enter hell, the lake of burning sulfur.

The 12 Tribes of New Spiritual Israel that God has created is a new creation, and it is God’s kingdom and temple – the one and only in the world.

The 144,000. The organization page prints Revelation 7:4, “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel (Rv 7:4)”, above the twelve tribes. The church's Korean introduction calls the tribes "12지파 144,000" (our translation: the twelve tribes, 144,000). The critic Kim reports a belief among members that the end would come once the membership reached that number, and notes that the number was passed in 2012.

The promised pastor

Chairman Lee is the messenger sent by Jesus; his testimony is how one learns Revelation.

Shincheonji teaches that, as Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament as the promised shepherd, Jesus fulfills the New Testament today through a promised pastor, the "new John," who has seen and heard the fulfillment of Revelation and testifies to it. The church names Chairman Lee as that man, and also calls him the one who overcomes. Members are taught that one must receive the testimony through him to understand Revelation. The critic Young Sang Kim writes that Lee "wants to deify himself as a promised pastor having a unique capability to interpret the Bible." Lee himself denies being divine: "나는 하나님도 예수님도 아니요" (our translation: I am neither God nor Jesus), he wrote in 2022, but one chosen by Jesus to testify to what he saw and heard. This chart takes him at his word on that point and judges the claim he does make.

Therefore, one must receive testimony about the revealed word and the realities (physical fulfillments) of Revelation through this new John and come to understand them in order to enter heaven.

Through heaven’s revelation, he learned that he was the messenger sent to the churches to testify to Revelation’s fulfillment (Rv 22:16).

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.

but he, because he abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.

The faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), so no later messenger can add to it, and Paul put the curse on even "an angel from heaven" who brought another gospel (Galatians 1:8). The angel who showed John the vision refused worship and called himself a fellow-servant (Revelation 22:8-9). Christ himself "abideth for ever" and holds his priesthood unchangeable (Hebrews 7:24), so no promised pastor stands between him and his people. A man who tells the world that it must come to him to understand the book has put himself where the Lord alone belongs.

The church reads Revelation 22:16, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches" (Revelation 22:16), as naming the chairman. The verse names no man, and the angel who speaks in it is the one John was told not to worship (Revelation 22:8-9).

The twelve tribes

The 144,000 sealed are Shincheonji’s twelve tribes, the only people of God’s kingdom.

Shincheonji organizes its members into twelve tribes, each named for an apostle, and teaches that these are the "12 Tribes of New Spiritual Israel" of Revelation 7, the people sealed with the revealed word. Its pages call the tribes "the one and only in the world" and say that those outside them are not found among the people of God's kingdom at the end of the age.

It is said that those who do not belong to the 12 Tribes are not found as the people of God’s kingdom at the end of age; thus, the 12 Tribes of Shincheonji are working to spread Shincheonji throughout the world and heal all nations at the same time.

These 12 Tribes are named after the 12 Tribes in the era of the Old Testament and Jesus’ disciples.

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.

but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

Every Christian already belongs to the new Israel: "if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise" (Galatians 3:29). Hebrews says that believers "are come unto mount Zion" and to the "church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven" (Hebrews 12:22-23), a company enrolled in heaven by the Lord, not by a church's registry. Peter calls the whole church "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). Setting the people of God inside one Korean organization, with the rest outside, builds a wall the apostles tore down.

Revelation as fulfilled and as the new covenant

The book of Revelation has been fulfilled in physical events, and it is the "new covenant."

The church teaches that the book of Revelation is the new covenant Jesus made at the Passover table, that its prophecies have been fulfilled in physical "entities" in Korea, and that Revelation 22:18-19 puts anyone who adds to or takes from it outside heaven. It applies that warning to Catholic and Protestant teachers, whom it says have added to or taken from the book, and holds up its own reading as the one that neither adds nor takes away.

Therefore, one must keep these words, neither adding to nor taking away from Revelation, and fully understand it in order to attain salvation.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus has overcome the world of traditional Christianity with the truth (the revealed word), and among all the world’s churches, it is the only denomination that understands not only the true meaning of Revelation but also its physical fulfillment.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.

knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.

The warning of Revelation 22:18-19 is real, and it bears hardest on a church that sets one man's reading beside the text and binds it on the conscience. Jesus named the cup "the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20) and called it "poured out for you," so the covenant is his sacrifice, and no book becomes the covenant. Peter says "no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20), which forbids a single interpreter to hold the key. And Jesus said it was not for his disciples to know "times or seasons" (Acts 1:7), so a claim to have seen the fulfillment in a place and a year goes beyond what he gave.

The Bible course that makes the tribes

A free course taught in stages ends in a graduation that the church calls a sealing; critics report that recruiters at first hide their affiliation.

Members enter through the Zion Christian Mission Center, which the church describes as a free Bible center teaching “nothing but the word of the Bible”. The church says its regular course runs about eight months, ends in an examination, and each year sends tens of thousands of graduates into the tribes. How the church describes it: a gift of free Bible teaching, where graduates are "sealed" and join a tribe. How critics describe it: Young Sang Kim, a theology student at the University of Pretoria writing a master's thesis in 2016, reports that members first join ordinary churches, win friends there, look out for people unhappy with their pastor, and invite them to a Bible study, and that the six-month study "starts with friendly doctrine and at end of the last two months, it slowly begins to teach the deity of Lee Man-Hee as a promised pastor" (Kim, citing a Korean source of 2013). William Chong, writing in Christianity Today in 2023 from the accounts of former members in New Zealand, reports that members invited Christians to Bible studies and, when asked, "would say they were part of Zion Mission Center, New Heaven New Earth, or Mount Zion"; that in one class of ten, half were already members "pretending to be first-time learners"; and that students were taught not to tell friends and family about the classes. These are the accounts of a critic and of former members. Shincheonji in New Zealand did not answer Christianity Today's request for comment, we found no reply on the church's site, and we do not state them as proven.

We introduce a theology established according to the promises of the Bible, teaching nothing but the word of the Bible.

In 2025 alone, 59,192 graduates completed the program, bringing the total number of graduates to 757,704 to date.

약 8개월간의 정규과정을 수료하는 교인의 수가 매해 10만여 명이 넘고 있다 (our translation: the number of members who complete the regular course of about eight months passes 100,000 each year)

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Free Bible teaching is good, and the church earns credit for asking people to open the text. But the Bereans were "more noble" because they were "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11), which is the opposite of a course that ends by sealing a person into the reading it taught. If the reports of recruiters hiding their name and aim are true, they break "putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor" (Ephesians 4:25) and the apostle's rule against "walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully" (2 Corinthians 4:2). The Lord's way to make disciples is open teaching of "all things whatsoever I commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).

Where the accounts come from. Kim's thesis is the work of a Christian who set out to help church leaders defend their churches, and he says he saw half of one church's members go over to Shincheonji. The Christianity Today article quotes former members, some by first name only, and says the New Zealand group did not answer its questions. Each should be read for what it is.

The one true church

Shincheonji holds that it alone is orthodox and that Catholics and Protestants cannot enter heaven.

Shincheonji teaches that it is the only denomination that has mastered Revelation, so it is the true orthodox church, and that Catholic and Protestant leaders and members have added to or taken from Revelation and cannot enter heaven. It says it has repeatedly offered Catholics and Protestants a public examination on Revelation to settle which side is orthodox, and that none has accepted.

Catholic and Protestant who added or subtracted from the book of Revelation are heresy, and the Shincheonji 12 tribes that master the book of Revelation is orthodox.

Therefore, Shincheonji has repeatedly proposed to the Catholic and Protestant churches that they take a public exam—based on the New Testament Revelation—to distinguish between heresy and orthodoxy; yet, to this day, not a single person has accepted the challenge.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and the 12 Tribes that God created have never existed before, it is the only temple and kingdom of God that exists in the world.

For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

There is one body, one Spirit and one Lord (Ephesians 4:4-6), but it is the Lord's body and no earthly organization owns it. "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11), and "in none other is there salvation" (Acts 4:12). To rest standing before God on passing an examination in one man's reading of Revelation is to lay another foundation. The church is right that false teachers exist (Matthew 7:15), and that is why it must be tested by the Scripture it asks us to read, not by a contest on its own ground.

Shincheonji asks to be tested against the Bible, and this chart does that. The test is the one the apostles gave: does a teaching hold to what was delivered once, and does it keep the church's government, its table, its worship and its hope as the New Testament sets them? Where Shincheonji stands near the New Testament, this part says so. Where it stands far, it says that too, and plainly.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Scripture is "complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), so nothing is waiting to be added by a later messenger. The faith has been "once for all delivered" (Jude 1:3), and Paul put a curse even on "an angel from heaven" who preached another gospel (Galatians 1:8). Shincheonji presses Revelation 22:18-19 on others, yet it binds the chairman's reading on every member as the only key to the book, and it claims a message from Jesus through him. This is a rule of faith beside Scripture, and it stands at the far end.

Credit. Shincheonji asks readers to open the Bible and compare, and it teaches Scripture to ordinary members. That is nearer the apostles than a church that keeps its people from the text. The comparison fails because the chairman's reading is then made the standard that settles every difference.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.

The Lord saves those who repent and are baptized "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and "in none other is there salvation" than Christ (Acts 4:12). Shincheonji ties salvation to being sealed in its twelve tribes and to mastering Revelation, which puts membership in an organization and a reading in the place of Christ and obedient faith. The church's own account of entry runs from the course to a final exam to admission as a full member, and baptism in water, the act that puts a believer "into Christ" (Galatians 3:27), has no place in it. On the rubric, a body with no baptism in entry takes the last rung, as Christian Science does on this site. A church whose door is a course and an exam has left the way the apostles opened.

How sure this is. Silence on a website is not proof of a practice, and some members may have been baptized in other churches before they came. But this is not a gap in a few pages. The church describes its entry, its graduation ceremony and its sealing many times, and it publishes a long run of the chairman's messages, and none of them names baptism as part of becoming one of God's people. Every use of the word on the site is the name of John the Baptist or of the Baptist denomination. So the verdict rests on what the church teaches as the way in. If some congregations do baptize, salvation would still be tied to the sealed tribes, and the placement would not move.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

The Lord's Supper was kept "upon the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7), and Paul says that as often as the church eats the bread and drinks the cup, "ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Shincheonji keeps a Passover memorial once a year, and its chairman reads the body and blood as the revealed word, the cup as the new revealed word, and the blood as shed for the twelve-tribe priests. That moves the Supper's meaning from the cross to a message, and the day from every first day to a feast date that Paul called "a shadow of the things to come" (Colossians 2:16-17). The sources do not say whether bread and cup are used, so the verdict rests on the frequency, the meaning and who may take part, and each of those sits at the far end.

The three criteria. Frequency: the only feast the church describes is the yearly Passover, and we found no weekly breaking of bread. Nature: the church's own words make the flesh and blood the revealed word, so the memorial of the Lord's death becomes the hearing of a reading. Access: the chairman says the blood is for the twelve-tribe priests and that they are the ones who will partake of it, but the cup is "the new covenant in my blood" for all the Lord's people, and Scripture sets no such registry as its door.

Why not a step closer. This site places churches that drop the bread and cup but put only prayer in their place a step short of the far end. Shincheonji puts its own reading of Revelation in the place of the cup, which is further from the memorial, not nearer.

Credit. The chairman still calls the blood promised in Revelation "유월절의 구원의 양 예수 그리스도의 구원의 피" (our translation: the saving blood of Jesus Christ, the Passover lamb of salvation), and the church ties the feast to the Lord's words in Luke 22. It has not forgotten whose blood it is.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

The apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), and elders were to tend the flock and not be "lording it over the charge allotted" to them (1 Peter 5:3). Shincheonji has one chairman over twelve tribe leaders and a headquarters of departments, with the congregations as branches. On structure alone it sits at the far end: one office over every congregation, branches under tribes under a headquarters, and, in all we read, no plurality of elders over any congregation. The chairman's own reading also binds the members, which by this site's rule would move the answer one step further out, but the scale already stops here. An overseer is to be "holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching" (Titus 1:9), not adding a word of his own.

Credit. The church teaches that every member should be able to teach the Bible, and its Wednesday worship has ordinary members preach. That is nearer the New Testament's gift to all believers than a closed clergy. But the doctrine that all must preach is the chairman's, and the one who sets it is not under any elders.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

The pattern in the New Testament is singing with the heart (Ephesians 5:19) and worship "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24), and "in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men" (Matthew 15:9) warns against a service built on a human reading. Shincheonji's worship centers on sermons that carry the chairman's reading, and it adds a yearly Passover feast as a service of worship and repeated examinations to confirm a member's sealing, which the New Testament never asks of a congregation. We found nothing on its singing or its prayer, so the placement rests only on those added acts and stands a step short of the far end. It is a lower mark than the other questions because less is known, not because the church has been shown to be nearer.

Credit. Ordinary members, young and old, stand up on Wednesdays to teach from Scripture. That is nearer Paul's picture of an assembly where "ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn" (1 Corinthians 14:31) than a service where one man always speaks, though the outline they preach from is the church's.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

The Spirit's gifts confirmed the word "at the first" through those who heard the Lord (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the church is built "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), a foundation that is laid. Shincheonji's account of the chairman, a spirit from heaven who met him, a voice that sent him, heavenly patterns shown to him, and a Spirit who is with those who understand Revelation his way, asks the church to accept a new revelation. John says to "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). Proved by the pages of Scripture, a revelation that binds new teaching on the church fails.

Where it sits nearer. We found no claim on the church's pages to tongues, healing or other sign gifts in its services, and on those it stands nearer the line than the Pentecostal bodies. But the gift it does claim, new revelation that the church must receive, is the one that most needs the apostles' foundation, so the placement stays at the far end.

But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe it not: for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

Jesus said that of the day and hour "knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only" (Matthew 24:36), and he warned that if anyone says "Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe it not" (Mark 13:21). Shincheonji says the judgment has begun, that its twelve tribes are the sealed company, and that those outside them are bound for the lake of fire. It sets the fulfillment of the book in one place and one generation, which is the claim the Lord told his disciples not to believe. The Lord's people have already "come unto mount Zion" (Hebrews 12:22), and that company is not a registry in Korea.

Credit. Shincheonji holds that Christ will judge, that heaven and the lake of fire are real, and that his people must watch, as the New Testament does. The error is in setting the fulfillment in its own history and making its own tribes the only company saved.

Shincheonji confesses that the Lord of the church is “Jesus Christ who was slain”, asks its members to keep the commandment to love one another, and puts the Bible in every member's hands and expects them to learn it. It invites people to compare its claims with Scripture, which is the right test. It teaches the Bible free, it sends volunteers to serve neighbors, and its members show a seriousness about Scripture and about the end of the age that is rare. These are things the New Testament asks of all Christians.

The test Shincheonji asks for is the right one, and by it the church's central claims do not stand: that a messenger today brings the key to Revelation, that the sealed company is its own twelve tribes, that Passover once a year is the Supper, and that salvation waits on passing through its course.

The apostles gave the church one faith, one Lord and one body, and set elders in each congregation. To anyone in Shincheonji, or leaving it, the way is the one Peter gave on the first day of the church (Acts 2:38): hear Christ, turn to him, and be baptized into him, with the Scriptures open and no man's reading standing between you and the Lord.

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