Lee Man Hee was born on September 15th, 1931 and served in the Korean war in the 7th Infantry Division of the Republic of the Korean Army (Source).
Lee Man Hee claims to be the “Promised Pastor” of the New Testament, a prophet who speaks on behalf of God and Jesus, and is the only one who can correctly interpret the word of God. He claims that in order to receive salvation, one must be registered at his church, and that the world of Christianity is in spiritual darkness, and is therefore not saved.
Lee Man Hee makes the claim that he never formally received any biblical teaching, instead was appointed by Jesus to be his prophet in 1977, and received the full understanding of the Word of God from an Angel who spoke on behalf of God and Jesus in the Spring of 1980.
‘To All the Protestant Pastors in Korea’ (380911 – 11 Sep 2021)
I was a farmer that grew up on a farm in the countryside. I did not know anything about church, the Bible, or pastors, and I never received the laying on of hands to become a pastor. Also, I was never evangelized by anyone. During my childhood, I only [had the experience of] holding my grandfather’s hand when he would pray to God.
Below I go into detail about Man Hee Lee’s experience with other sects in Korea, the similarities between the sects he was either directly or indirectly involved with, and how the different sects eventually heavily influenced the teachings of SCJ.
Before starting Shincheonji, Lee Man Hee was involved with three different doomsday sects throughout his life.
Olive Tree Movement: 1957-1967
According to both the Journal of Censur and Kim Shincheonji, Page 19, Lee Man Hee was involved with the controversial Korean cult known as the Olive Tree Movement. Some of the claims made by the Olive Tree Founder, Tae Sun Park, are similar to the claims that Shincheonji teaches today. Tae Sun Park:
- Refers to himself as the Righteous Man of the East
- Refers to himself as the One Who Overcomes
- Claimed immortality, or at least the world will end before he dies
- Claimed that only in the Olive Tree one would find the hidden manna
- 144,000 would go to heaven to be with the Lord, and the countless great multitude in white
The above teachings should sound familiar to those who are well versed with the teachings of Shincheonji.
As for the issues with the Olive Tree Movement:
- Leader claimed that 98% of the Bible is corrupted
- Claimed that Jesus was a “son of a b%%%%”
- Died in 1990
- Eventually claimed that he was God, and the Olive Tree currently claims that Park’s spirit is now unified with the Father.
There were also other sects that came out from the Olive Tree Movement, including:
After defecting from the Olive Tree Movement, Lee Man Hee joined another cult, known as the Tabernacle Temple.
The Tabernacle Temple 1967 – 1971
The Tabernacle Temple was founded by Jae Yul Yoo, who came out from another Trouble some cult called the “Hoasang Prayer Group”, whose leader was accused of sexual misconduct with one of his members (Kim Shincheonji pg 20, Shincheonji Blogspot, Where was Man Hee Lee?). He created his sect to have “7 messengers”, who would represent the 7 churches from Revelation 2 and 3, and taught the following:
- Emphasized the concept of each verse has its own secret pair, quoting Isaiah 34:16.
- Grossly taken out of context
- Jesus only spoke in parables and secrets.
- Due to the end times being near, that the “Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” shall be revealed.
- SCJ uses a similar approach to the Bible, using a “Parable dictionary” and jumping verse to verse, book to book, without taking into account the context of each verse being used.
- By 1969, the world will end.
- Yoo prepared a “secret room” to escape from Armaggedon, and that only his followers would be saved at Mt. Chungkye.
After the world did not end in 1969, 3 out of the 7 messengers defected from the sect. However, despite the obvious failed prophecy, Lee Man Hee still stayed in the Tabernacle Temple sect.
Baek’s Recreation Sect: 1977 – 1980
Before starting Shincheonji, the final sect that Lee Man Hee was involved with is the Baek’s Recreation sect, which was lead by one of the 7 messengers who defected, Baek (who was referred to as “Solomon” during his time in the Tabernacle Temple).
The Recreation Sect made the following claims:
- Taught the “Creation and Recreation” (Betrayal, Destruction, and Salvation).
- One of the core doctrines of SCJ
- Setup 12 disciples under him, and referred to himself as Christ.
- Lee Man Hee himself would refer to Baek as “My Lord.”
- Claimed that the world would end in 1980.
Despite what Lee Man Hee claims, after reviewing his history with cults, it is obvious that Lee Man Hee did not receive his teachings from an Angel on behalf of God and Jesus, but instead received his teachings from various false prophets.
One must always be weary of where the teachings originate from, because even the Devil can quote the Bible (Matthew 4 and the Temptation of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Matthew 7:15).