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The World Mission Society Church of God. was founded by Ahn Sang-Hong in Seoul in 1964. He joined the Holiness Church in 1947 and believed [in] the imminent Second Coming of Christ. He left the church and made his own church, known as "Ahn Sang-Hong Witness Society." .
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The World Mission Society Church of God was founded by Ahn Sang-Hong in Seoul in 1964. He joined the Holiness Church in 1947 and believed [in] the imminent Second Coming of Christ. He left the church and made his own church, known as "Ahn Sang-Hong Witness Society."
He insisted that he was the incarnated Holy Spirit who was preparing [for] the Coming of Christ [for] the last time ... After his death [in 1985], his spiritual wife and followers reorganized the Society into "The Church of God, World Mission Society." Its main office is located in Bundang, Sungnam City, Kyunggi Province, about an hour away from Seoul.
The World Mission Society of God is present in many countries. One official site states that "the Church of God has grown into a world-class church just within half a century with 400 and 120 churches in Korea and abroad respectively and more than 820,000 followers worldwide."
Today the leader of the church is Zahng Gil Jah, known to followers as the Heavenly Mother, and the General Pastor is Kim Joo-cheol. Over 70 percent of followers are women and Korean Americans are increasingly found among the new adherents. Its headquarters are located in Bundang, Sungnam City, Kyunggi Province, roughly an hour away from Seoul.
The World Mission Society Church of God, founded by Ahn Sang-hong (also spelled as Ahnsahnghong) in Korea, believes it is "the only true church which God has established on this earth" [Rev. Joo Cheol Kim, official website]. Within South Korea, and elsewhere proselytizers introduce themselves (to foreigners) by asking whether the individual has heard of the Mother's love, or of the Heavenly Mother.
According to the Church Jerusalem, the source of living water, is God the Mother who gives eternal life to all human beings, with the words of life. (Website) The New Jerusalem Temple where God the Mother, who has come in the flesh to save all human beings dwells, is the central Church of the World Mission Society Church of God
The church regards that the earthly family system is a copy and shadow of the heavenly family system, consisting of a Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, and the spiritual brothers and sisters (humans).
Examining the doctrines of the WMSCOG Jesus The Church claims a man called Ahnsahnghong is the Second Coming of Christ. According to this church, Ahnsahnghong is Jesus. The Bible teaches clearly that Jesus Christ will return as a Jew visibly, not in a secret coming.
Matthew 24:23-27: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Acts 1:11-12: “and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Zechariah 14:4: “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.”
Ahnsahnghong made false prophecies by predicting the end of the world in 1967 and 1988. This is a sin. Since Jesus never sinned and/or ever make a mistake, He and Ahnsahnghong are not the same person WMSCOG Expected the world to end at the end of 2012, before which they hope to recruit 144,000 members
The Bible nowhere teaches that the world is going to end in 2012. Jesus stated that no one knows the day nor the hour of his return. Matthew 24:36:“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. The 144,000 individuals spoken of in the book of Revelation literally refer to Jewish males from each tribe of Israel. It is not referring to a select number of Christians who are Asian or of any other ethnic background.
WMSCOG Considers Korea to be Zion (the new spiritual Jerusalem) The Old Testament clearly teaches that Zion is in Israel, not anywhere else. For example: "The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcast of Israel. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.“(Psalms 147:2, 12 KJV) The Bible says in MANY other areas that Israel is where Zion is, not Korea
"But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men mad perfect, " (Hebrews 12:22-23). Did Paul have Korea in mind when he wrote this?
The disciples clearly understood Jesus teaching to refer to the restoration of the nation of Israel in Acts 1:6-7, “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” The disciples did not say “When will you come back to that far country Korea?”
Incarnation WMSCOG Believe Mother Jerusalem to be the female incarnation of God. This is definitely unbiblical since the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the unique incarnation of God as the one and only begotten Son of God who is God and man. Since Jesus is the unique incarnation of God, there are not other incarnations of God who are female.
Jesus is the one who reveals the father John 1:1: ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:18: ”No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side,he has made him known.”
There doctrine of “Mother God” is saying that monotheism is incorrect, and polytheism is the correct worldview They believe that mother God is separate from father God (and what we would call the Trinity) “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” - Isaiah 44:6
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” - Isaiah 45:22 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,” - Isaiah 46:9 “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” - Isaiah 43:10
The New Jerusalem Heavenly Mother? What does the WMSCOG say? Galatians 4:26: “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” “1.7 million members of the Church of God believe in God the Mother who gives the water of life” Is that really what the Bible is saying in that passage? And who gives the water of life?
Who does the Bible say gives living water? Revelation 7:17: “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” (John 4:13)
Mother God the New Jerusalem? Revelation 21:9-10: “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,” Is the New Jerusalem then the Mother God?
Revelation 21:2 describes the New Jerusalem as a beautifully adorned bride. Verses 9-10 show that the “wife of the Lamb” and the New Jerusalem are synonymous terms. Obviously, the New Jerusalem is a city, not a person. A city is a group of people, not an individual; in this case, the city is the church & redeemed Israel living in God’s heavenly city. The Lamb’s “wife,” then, is figurative, not literal.” All of eschatology is paralleled after a Jewish wedding, but the CHURCH is the bride, not some heavily mother God
Galatians 4:26: “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” How about some good old context? Galatians 4:21-30 “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic…
For these are thetwo covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren,You who do not bear!Break forth and shout,You who are not in labor!For the desolate has many more childrenThan she who has a husband.”…
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even soit is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” Is this verse actually teaching us that we have a mother God in heaven who is also called the New Jerusalem?
Paul is contrasting the Old and New Covenants. As an illustration, he contrasts Hagar (Abraham’s slave) with Sarah (Abraham’s wife). Hagar represents the bondage to the law, and her son, Ishmael, was a son of law and of bondage. Sarah represents freedom, and her son, Isaac, was a son of promise and of freedom. Paul’s point is that those “born” of Sinai (under the Old Covenant of law) are in bondage, whereas those “born” of the heavenly Jerusalem (under the New Covenant of grace) are free. To paraphrase verse 26, “We, like Isaac, are children of promise; we are not under the law; we are freeborn citizens of the heavenly city of Christ.”
Trinity The concept of "Trinity" means that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not different entities, but are one God. The Trinity-God the Father [Jehovah], God the Son [Jesus], and God the Holy Spirit [Ahnsahnghong]-are one. So Ahnsahnghong is the Holy Spirit! It is a little confusing though because they say he is Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Salvation WMSCOG: Only God the Father, Christ, Ahnsahnghong and God the Mother (Heavenly Mother) can give people salvation. For six thousand years God has carried out His salvation work in the names of Jehovah, Jesus, and Ahnsahnghong, each according to its age. What does the Bible say about this topic? Do multiple people have the ability to give salvation
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 10:9 That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. There are many verses that say Jesus is the only way and only one who can give Salvation
WMSCOG: One blogger states, “Through the prophecy of the Bible, let’s confirm that Christ Ahnsahnghong, who came as the Savior in the age of the Holy Spirit, is truly the Second Coming Christ. Jesus is in His very nature God (Phil. 2:5), the very God Jehovah who granted salvation during the age of the Father. Since Jesus is, in fact, Jehovah, there is no contradiction between "There is no savior apart from Jehovah," and, "There is no other name given to men by whom we must be saved (apart from the name of Jesus.)"
They teach that there is only one male persona of God who appears as either Father, Son or Holy Spirit. Each becomes a role of the male God, like any man can take on the role of father, son, husband. This is a denial of the triune nature of God where each person is simultaneously existing, eternal in nature, and does not change into another (Oneness belief is what we call this) This doesn’t make sense though in light of many scriptures in the Bible
The crucifixion doesn’t make sense Who poured out his wrath upon Jesus? We are left to say that nobody’s wrath was poured out, because the Father was the one who was dying. Despite that, the Bible teaches that it pleased the Lord to crush Jesus (Isaiah 53:10), and that Jesus entrusted his Spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46).
Who was Jesus Praying to? Matthew 11:25-26:“At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” Luke 22:41-42: “And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
How could Jesus go to be with the Father? He would change "modes" and become the Father! John 20:17: “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Who is on the throne? Mark 16:19: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” Acts 2:33: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
The Christian Council of Korea, which represents Protestant churches in the country, has declared the World Mission Society Church of God “heresy.” Memory Verse John 1:18: ”No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side,he has made him known.”