Shincheonji lesson 90: persecution and the kingdom of victory, new heaven and new earth

Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible

This lesson tells students persecution is certain, and it “might be subtle, such as questions about your study time, concerns about your choices.” It says, “Those who persecute belong to the devil,” defines persecution as “to sow doubt,” and says Satan laughs at “simply shouting Jesus’ name.” It warns, “Persecutors will use the world’s legal systems,” so seeing the group in court “shouldn’t be the standard by which we judge.” It says the overcomers “established the TTT (Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony), the place where all nations must come to worship,” that “If you’re still trying to discern at this point, it’s actually a heart issue,” and that those who stay “because there are people here that I like or love” should “Flee.” SCJ’s The Creation of Heaven and Earth (p. 228) says “there are no other true temples” besides that one. The lesson’s own best teaching, that Jesus’ way was to love, forgive and bless, is a good place to start.

1. 1. Questions and concerns are not persecution

   The lesson lists “questions about your study time” and “concerns about your choices” as subtle persecution.

   • Jesus describes persecution as being insulted and falsely accused “on account of me” (Matthew 5:11), flogged and brought before governors and kings “because of me” (10:17-18).
   • A parent, spouse or friend asking about a course, or worried about a decision, is doing what Scripture encourages: “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with abundant advisers they are established” (Proverbs 15:22). “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (27:6).
   • Peter tells believers to “always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess” (1 Peter 3:15). Questions call for answers, not suspicion. (See Lessons 16 and 46.)

2. 2. “Those who persecute belong to the devil”

   • Paul persecuted the church, and later wrote, “I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor … But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13). The lesson itself says persecutors act from “ignorance and misplaced zeal” (John 16:2). People aren’t fixed in one camp.
   • Peter warns that suffering isn’t automatically righteous: “let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker” (1 Peter 4:15). Opposition proves nothing on its own. (See Lessons 6 and 86.)

3. 3. Saying persecution means “to sow doubt”

   The lesson defines persecution as sowing doubt, drawing on Satan’s “widespread trade” in Ezekiel 28.

   • Ezekiel 28’s “trade” is Tyre’s commerce (28:16; chapter 27). (See Lesson 65.)
   • Scripture welcomes honest testing: “examine all things; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Treating every doubt as Satan’s attack makes testing impossible.

4. 4. The name of Jesus

   The notes say Satan laughs at “simply shouting Jesus’ name.”

   • The seventy-two returned saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17).
   • Paul commanded a spirit “in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,” and “it came out of her at once” (Acts 16:18).
   • God exalted Jesus “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow” (Philippians 2:10). James says to “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
   • Downplaying Jesus’ name shifts trust toward the course’s knowledge.

5. 5. Love, forgive, bless: Apply it to family

   • The lesson rightly cites Jesus’ way: “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
   • That’s a good standard. It sits uneasily with Lesson 52’s instruction not to spend time with “those who are dead,” SCJ’s book quoted on the Lesson 75 page saying “anyone who opposes Shincheonji is also evil,” and Lesson 88 calling doubters “dogs.” Students can apply it to how they’re being taught to view the people who love them.

6. 6. Court cases: Look at what the charges are

   The lesson says, “Persecutors will use the world’s legal systems,” so a group being in court “shouldn’t be the standard by which we judge.”

   • Jesus did warn that his followers would be brought before governors and kings “because of me” (Matthew 10:18). That’s suffering for his name.
   • Scripture also says authorities exist to restrain wrongdoing (Romans 13:3-4), and that believers should do good so that slander is silenced (1 Peter 2:12, 15).
   • Being in court doesn’t prove guilt or innocence. What matters is what the case is about. SCJ and its founder have faced court cases in Korea, including a conviction of the founder for embezzlement that was upheld on appeal (our WARP Summit page’s court-case note covers it). Students should read the actual records and judge for themselves, rather than being told in advance to dismiss them.

7. 7. “If you’re still trying to discern at this point, it’s actually a heart issue”

   • Luke calls the Bereans “more open-minded” for “examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
   • “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God” (1 John 4:1). “A naive person will believe anything, but the shrewd person discerns his steps” (Proverbs 14:15).
   • Discernment isn’t a heart problem. It’s what God asks of every believer, especially when a claim is this large.

8. 8. Told to “Flee” from people you “like or love”

   The lesson tells students who stay “because there are people here that I like or love” to flee.

   • Jesus’ command to flee was about Jerusalem’s siege (Luke 21:20-21). (See Lesson 44.)
   • Scripture treats love for family and fellow believers as central to faith: “If anyone says ‘I love God’ and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20); “if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith” (1 Timothy 5:8).

9. 9. The temple of the tent of the testimony is in heaven

   The lesson says the overcomers “established the TTT … the place where all nations must come to worship.” SCJ’s book says “there are no other true temples.”

   • “the temple (the tent of the testimony) was opened in heaven, and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple” (Revelation 15:5-6). It’s in heaven, and judgment comes out of it. (See Lesson 25.)
   • The song just before says, “All nations will come and worship before you” (15:4), meaning God, not a building.
   • Believers are God’s temple now: “you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). In the new creation, “I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God—the All-Powerful—and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22).
   • Jesus said true worship isn’t tied to a place (John 4:21-23).

10. 10. The new heaven and earth: No more death

    The lesson says the first heaven and earth passed away in “a battle of doctrines and words.” SCJ’s book widens this to “the Christian world (Spiritual Israel)” (The Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 260).

    • In the new heaven and earth, “death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain” (Revelation 21:4). That isn’t true of any group in today’s world. (See Lessons 41 and 56.)
    • Calling the whole Christian world the first heaven that passed away writes off the church Jesus promised to keep (Matthew 16:18; 28:20).

11. 11. Saying a long-standing place “cannot be Mount Zion”

    The notes say, “A place that has been around for a long time, speaking a long-standing word or doctrine, cannot be Mount Zion.”

    • Hebrews told first-century believers, “you have come to Mount Zion” (Hebrews 12:22). The place was already there for them. (See Lesson 79.)

12. 12. Saying “mastering Revelation after its fulfillment is the only way”

    • Revelation blessed its first readers for reading and obeying it: “blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it” (1:3). A priest in 1534 didn’t need to say, “We don’t know the meaning.” The book’s message of Christ’s victory and faithful endurance was clear to every generation. (See Lesson 71.)