Is Korean Pastor, David Jang, Christ’s 2nd Coming?

Christianity Today just published the results of an in-depth investigation (authored by Ted Olsen & Ken Smith)into the teachings of Korean Pastor David Jang Jae-Hyung and his diverse global affiliates. David Jang’s original base of operations was S. Korea, yet his ministries & missions have become increasingly active in Asia, N. America & elsewhere. Given the growing global reach of his organizations, David Jang’s teachings should be of interest to evangelical churches in Toronto, across Canada & around the globe.

Christianity Today (CT) documents evidence substantiating claims that David Jang’s group encouraged the heretical belief that he--David Jang Jae-Hyung is the ‘Second Coming Christ.’ This makes Jang another “False Christ,” concerning whom Jesus warned, “false Christs and false prophets will arise …to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22). This is a serious allegation, but CT has clearly done its ‘homework.’ They haven’t ‘rushed to judgment’; their investigation has taken 5 years. It is also significant that prior this story’s publication, Ken Smith and CT received threats of lawsuits by people associated with Jang.The following are selections from CT’s extensive report.—Nigel Tomes

The Second Coming Christ Controversy

Ted Olsen & Ken Smith, Christianity Today, 16, Aug., 2012

Korean Pastor David Jang Jae-Hyung has become an increasingly influential figure in Asian and now US evangelicalism. He and his followers have founded media outlets and a Christian college and are key influencers in the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). But many say his group has encouraged the belief that he’s the ‘Second Coming Christ.’ Is there any truth to the allegations?

… Korean pastor David Jang Jae-Hyung is a controversial figure who, according to credible reports, has been hailed by some of his followers as the "Second Coming Christ."

Over the last 5 years, ministries and organizations founded by or connected to Jang have gained influence in US and global evangelical ministries, including the World Evangelical Alliance. Yet in the same period, a number of mainstream Christian organizations in Korea and China have severed relationships with his affiliated organizations after investigating such claims and finding them credible. Other groups have reconfirmed their ties after their investigations cleared him. As Jang's businesses and ministries expanded in the US, Christian leaders and ministries are asking similar questions about Jang & his theology.

The 'Second Coming Christ'

The details of Jang's early life are in question...

Critics in Korea, Japan, and China say he was involved in Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church [known as “the Moonies”]. They point to his appearance in a 1989 student handbook for Moon's Sung Hwa Theological Seminary as an assistant prof. of theology, teaching systematic theology and Unification theology. They also cite a 2002 history of Sun Moon University praising Jang for helping to fund the school…

Sun Myung Moon & his Unification Church--Heretical

Moon’s Unification Church in Korea was labeled heretical by Protestant churches in S. Korea, including Moon’s own Presbyterian Church. In the US the church was rejected by ecumenical organizations as non-Christian. The main objections against it were theological, especially because of the Unification Church’s additions to the Bible and for its rejection of a literal Second Coming of Jesus. Commentators criticize Unification Church teachings as contrary to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.

In 1982, Sun Myung Moon was convicted by the U.S. government for willfully filing false federal income tax returns and conspiracy. His conviction was upheld on appeal. Moon was given an 18-month jail sentence and a $15,000 fine. ]

News N Joy, a Korean Christian website, reported in 2004 that it had 4 conversations with Jang about his career in the Unification Church... In the interview, Jang said the description in the Sun Moon University history book was inaccurate, but acknowledged that he had worked for the school until 1995 (he didn’t officially resign ‘til 1998). "He explained that the reason he was involved in Sun Moon University was to teach orthodox theology to Unification Church members," the site reported. "In addition, he added that he led a lot of deluded people to the way of truth."

Both sides agree that Jang has long had more orthodox ties. According to a résumé Jang submitted to the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), he received his M.Div. from Hanshin University in 1990 and a Ph.D. from Dankook University in 1992. That same year, he was ordained as a Korean Presbyterian minister, and by 1999 he was moderator of the Hang Dong Presbytery.

1992 Jang told he was the “Second Coming Christ”

But according to several sources with experience in Jang-associated organizations and communities, many members of the movement believed that the key event …is not in his résumé —nor, indeed, in any written source. It was believed, these sources said, that in or around 1992, an early female follower, Borah Lin told Jang that she believed he was the "Second Coming Christ"—not Jesus Christ himself, but rather a new messianic figure that would complete Jesus' earthly mission. According to several former members, Ms Borah Lin became an important figure in Jang's closest circles.

Documents from teaching sessions indicate that Jang and his followers look to Oct. 30, 1992— Jang's 43rd birthday —as the precise date of the start of their own movement. Beyond that, affiliated groups including Apostolos Campus Ministries and Olivet Univ. look to 1992 as the year of their founding.

The years that followed were busy, as Jang recruited followers and commissioned missionaries to work on college campuses throughout Asia. The first missionaries to China arrived in 1996 and formed the core of the Young Disciples of Jesus. The Christian Post and Christian Today have dated their founding to 2000 (recently changed to 2004). The Gospel Herald and the US Evangelical Assembly of Presbyterian Churches (EAPC) launched in 2004, and the International Business Times in 2006. By 2002, Jang had recruited adherents in key cities throughout China, Japan, and Korea, and had begun expanding into the US….

"Target Top Universities"

In a May 2008 interview with Christianity Today, Jang-affiliated Olivet University president William Wagner said David Jang Jae-Hyung worked with college students to "target top universities"—especially those in the Univ. of California system—to build the student body at Olivet through transfers. Wagner said Apostolos Campus Ministries (renamed Apostolos Missions) at the time had 30,000+ students in 120 countries. That number didn't include another 10,000 students in China, where the organization is known as Young Disciples of Jesus.

40 “History Lessons”

Jang’s campus ministries approach students who seemed to be interested in Bible studies and encourage them to take a course of 40 private "history lessons." Former members say that it’s generally believed these lessons originated with Jang himself.

"These messages," a former student said he was told about a decade ago, "are so precious that we can't give them out to just anyone, even other Christians." The lessons were only given by senior members of the community, former members said, and sometimes the final key lessons would be given by Borah Lin herself.

Goal—Confess Jang is the "2^nd Coming Christ”

The lessons’ precise goal is in dispute. Several former members of the Jang-affiliated groups told CT the lessons seemed to be designed to lead new members to a confession that Jang was the "Second Coming Christ," though such a goal was never stated outright by the instructors.

"There were many obvious implied hints for getting people to confess," said a former member of the movement in China. "As one brother said, 'As long as you're not a fool, you can use logic to hint and imply.' But no one said directly in the sermons that 'Pastor David Jang is the Returning Lord.' Usually, even in private, this will not be mentioned. It seems to be top secret."

Former member Ma Li, who says she began the lessons in China in 2002, said that when she finished, her instructor looked at her and another new member very seriously and asked, "Have you understood? All the content?" "I answered firmly: 'Yes,'" she said. "Then she asked me separately: 'Who is Pastor David?' I answered without thinking, just followed what I heard just now and answered: 'The Second Coming Christ!' She said, 'Shhh,' calmly, and then, 'Don't tell others.'"

A former member of the U.S. branch of the movement described a similar experience:

When [my teacher] asked me, "Who do you think Pastor David is?" I was very shocked, and didn't know how to respond. At the time, I shed tears, because I didn't believe what I was hearing. I was so shocked. But then a thought crossed my mind, and I asked, "Is he the Second Coming Christ?" Because I wanted to test to see how they responded to that. But [his] response was even more surprising. "You've made a confession now." So I decided to play along with it for a while. But then he went around telling all the other leaders that I had confessed.

A Central Conviction?

While all of the former members interviewed by CT agreed that some people in the movement believe that Jang is the Second Coming Christ, they disagreed on how central this is to the group's religious identity.

One former member from the U.S. said, "It was never explicitly taught that Jang is the Second Coming of Christ or even a key eschatological figure. If that was ever stated, it was stated as a belief by those who believed. [But] the way eschatology was taught, one could easily come to that conclusion."

In fact, the same member did come to that conclusion and acknowledged that for a time, he too believed that Jang was the Second Coming Christ. He believed it, he said, "not because it was taught to me, but because there was at the time, in my mind, a fairly compelling case for the possibility. Now …I believe this not to be true. Though [Jang] is admittedly further along in many areas than other Christian leaders and pastors, I find his flaws to be too significant to ignore."

… Several former members who spoke to CT found it implausible that Jang had no connections to the confessions that he was the Second Coming Christ. One said that for several years around 2002 or 2003, it was the tradition for those who had just made the "confession" to write it out and send it to Jang.

One former leader from China said that only the most senior and trusted leaders were allowed to give the eschatology lessons, and that Jang specifically denied ever teaching it. "During a fierce debate, Pastor David Jang stood up and said that he had never taught that he is 'the Returning Lord.' The problem was that students did not know whether he had taught it or not. But it was a truth within the community. This teaching had been long preached. It was even a condition for joining the group."

A former member from Shanghai said that Jang indirectly encouraged the teaching in a sermon less than a decade ago by claiming that his relationship with Jesus was the same as the relationship between John the Baptist and Elijah, and that he would finish the work that Jesus left incomplete.

Japanese Critic-- Makoto Yamaya

… Makoto Yamaya, a Salvation Army official in Tokyo, has been writing critically about Jang and his organizations on his blog since 2006. Shortly after Yamaya began blogging, he told CT, he was contacted by a couple whose son, Munenori Kitamura, had gone missing. They had tried to get him to leave Jang's EAPC and the Jang-owned companies he worked for, but he apparently had abandoned the apartment they had set up for him, leaving behind several months' unpaid rent. Kitamura also left behind documents about the EAPC and several pages of "Bible Lecture Notes."

…Kitamura seemed to acknowledge that the notes were his, but explained, "While I am listening to messages, I am used to write down some counter-heretical remarks as a comparison to the general teachings, it is a very good opportunity for me to learn about the falsities and contradictions in heretical doctrines."

Meanwhile, Ma Li kept notes she says she took during her lessons in China and turned them over to a group of Chinese critics of the movement.

The two independent sets of notes correspond extensively, and several former members from the US and China have independently confirmed that many of the movement's members were in fact exposed to the teaching that the notes contain. But one former member …said that it "doesn’t accurately reflect what the large majority believe." It only represents one strand of the community, he said.

Similar to Sun Myung Moon’s Teachings--

Jesus’ Work Unfinished; Need Another ‘Christ’!

The basic content of these messages…bears similarities to the teachings of Sun Myung Moon— that Jesus' work was left unfinished and in need of another "Christ" to complete it. Daniel 12 records a notoriously ambiguous prophecy that refers to 1,260 days ("a time, times and half a time"), "1,290 days," and then finally to "1,335 days." The 1,260 days, the notes say, finished when Jesus was born, and the 1,290 days were completed when Jesus began to preach and teach publicly at 30 years of age (1,260 + 30 = 1,290). His 3-year public ministry, they say, advanced the prophecy of 1,290 days to 1,293 days, but because the Cross cut his mission short, Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy of the 1,335 days. There is thus a remaining gap of some 42 "days," which were said to symbolize 42 years. Multiple sources said that this 42-year gap was believed to have been fulfilled by Jang.

Jang’s 144,000 are ‘3^rd Israel”

The lessons also taught a doctrine of "three Israels." The first was a national Israel, the second was composed of Christians, and the third was constituted by the movement Jang had founded. The 144,000 of Revelation 7 was said to refer to this "third Israel," and the Lamb who redeemed them was said to be "not Jesus, but the Christ of the Second Coming."

Closely associated with this idea of Jang's followers as the "third Israel" is a distinction between the "gospel of parables" that Jesus taught and the "eternal gospel" delivered to Jang. One of the lessons said, "Jesus speaks in parables to preach to us, but to the new era, the gospel will be explained more clearly, that is, the everlasting Gospel." This "everlasting Gospel" will be proclaimed by the Second Coming Christ.

A former member from the US said that Lin finished her lessons with similar teachings. Among them: "Isn't the kingdom of God the body of Christ? So if someone were to create this body, if they were to start it, wouldn't it make sense to say that this is the Second Coming? And isn't it right to say that the one who does this is the Second Coming Christ?"

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/september/david-jang-second-coming-christ.html