Ahnsahnghong- teacher or deciever?
May 9, 2012
By Josh Paczok
Would you be able to spot a fraud if you saw one? How would you go about doing that? How can we as Christians discern between who is telling the truth and who is lying? Spiritual fraud is rampant in our world today. Many Christians have even been led astray by the various false teachers. You and I, however; do not have to fall victim to such schemes.
Jesus said that there would be false Christ’s who would rise up and deceive people in the last days. I believe that the man Ahnsahnghong was one such deceiver. Ahnsahnghong was a man who declared himself to be Jesus Christ. He said that he was the fulfillment of Christ’s promised return. He also taught a new method of salvation, which involves works and rituals. Not only did Ahnsahnghong proclaim himself to be a messenger of God, his followers declare that he himself was divine, and that he was the second coming of Christ.
There are three reasons that I believe that Ahnsahnghong was a deceiver. The first reason that I believe that Ahnsahnghong was a deceiver is that his teachings directly contradict the teachings of God’s Word. According to Ahnsahnghong’s teachings there are many necessary rituals and beliefs which merit salvation. According to this teaching, in order to be saved a person must keep the Jewish passover as long as they live. Although the next requirement contradicts the first, it is still necessary for salvation according to Ahnsahnghong’s teaching. He said that in order for a person to be saved, a person must follow all the teachings of the Bible. Another requirement for salvation that Ahnsahnghong taught was that a person must believe in “Mother God.” They do not believe that God the Father is in fact female, rather the belief is that “Mother God” is another person of the Godhead. A fourth requirement of salvation according to Ahnsahnghong is that a person must keep the Jewish Sabbath day all of their life. Standing in intimidating opposition to the teachings of Ahnsahnghong are the words of almighty God! According to God, salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose from the dead. According to the Bible, there is nothing that a person could do to earn his salvation. Even if we were capable of doing good on our own, we could not earn salvation because God in His perfection must deal justly with our sinfulness. This truth is described in Romans chapter three. Thus says the Lord:
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it–the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:19-28)
First of all notice, that the purpose of the Law was never to save anyone. Instead the Law proves that everyone is in need of a savior. Secondly notice that Jesus Christ is that savior. Thirdly notice that the reason that God has done all of this is to demonstrate His righteousness. Our salvation is not about us, or about what we can do. Salvation has always been about God’s righteousness and His love. Therefore any system that denies this truth by adding works as a means of salvation, is blasphemy because it usurps the honor and glory that belong to God.
Another belief that Ahnsahnghong’s followers hold is that there is a female member of the Godhead, who they call “Mother God.” This belief either originates from a preconceived notion which led to the misinterpretation of Scripture, or it could have originated from a careless handling of the text. Ahnsahnghong’s followers cite Galatians 4:26 as their proof text for this doctrine. This verse says: “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” A simple reading of the context in which this verse occurs is more than sufficient to demonstrate that Paul is not declaring that there is a female member of the Godhead. Instead, Paul is using an allegory to contrast the difference between those who attempt to attain salvation by the law, and those who successfully receive salvation by grace. Don’t take my word for it! Read Galatians chapter four for yourself! A third belief of the followers of Ahnsahnghong is that only Ahnsahnghong was able to understand the Scriptures. In their belief system the Scriptures are meaningless without Ahnsahnghong’s interpretation. In opposition to this lie, stands the Word of God. The Bible says:
“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)
Here there are several truths, which contradict Ahnsahnghong’s lie. The Apostle Paul begins this passage with a practical illustration of the truth that he is about to share. The only person who can really comprehend you is you. Thus, we are only able to comprehend God’s truth because we have God’s Spirit indwelling us. We as believers in Jesus Christ are able to comprehend the truths of God’s Word, not because we are intellectually capable, but because God Himself does the comprehending for us. Obviously, the person who does not have the Spirit of God cannot understand the Scriptures. So actually the followers of Ahnsahnghong are correct in saying that they cannot understand the Scriptures, but then, neither could Ahnsahnghong.
The second reason that I believe that Ahnsahnghong was a deceiver is that his coming was not anything like the prophesied return of Christ. Ahnsahnghong was born in South Korea. He was baptized in a cultic church in 1948 and began his ministry soon after. Unlike Ahnsahnghong’s experience God’s Word indicates that Jesus will return in the same body He left with, in the same manner in which He left. Luke reports in his account of Christ’s ascension:
“And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 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.” (Acts 1:9-11)
Jesus is not only going to return in the same manner in which He left, He is also going to return to the same place from where He left. The prophet Zechariah prophesied regarding Christ’s second coming that He will literally stand on the mount of Olives. It is written: “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.” (Zechariah 14:4)
Notice how the prophet says “His feet shall stand.” The emphasis is on the fact that He will literally stand on the mount of Olives. Ahnsahnghong has not done any of the things that Christ said He would do upon His return.
The third reason that I believe that Ahnsahnghong was a fraud is that he is dead! If Ahnsahnghong was really the return of Christ, he would not have died. As it is written: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:9)
There are many false teachers who have come to deceive people. In order to not find ourselves falling victim to their wicked schemes, we must rely totally on the Word of God. It is through meditation and careful study of the Word of God that the Lord will equip us to stand against these evil liars. There are many counterfeits but there is only one truth. How well do you know the Truth?
Josh Paczok is a graduate of Word of Life Bible Institute in Pottersville, NY and has a BA in Bible/Theology from Appalachian Bible College in Beckley, WV.
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS-MAKE A WEBSITE
Categories: Christian Apologetics |
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8 Comments »
I was deceived for a moment after a process of bible study with them but THANK YOU for the information. It has proved my gut feeling and my own awareness of scripture that i thought contradicted their teachings.
Saved by FAITH and not by WORKS Rom4:5 & Titus 3:5
It is a gift Eph.2:8-9
any other teachings make G-d out to be a liar 1John 5:10-12.
Thank you Josh for sharing!
Yes, they came to my house 3 times and their story is very compelling. I was very confused and didn’t want to be deceived nor did I want to ignore a possible 2nd coming. Until I read Matthew 24, I was assured that this was not the second coming. I mean, in Matthew 24 it states CLEARLY…that it will be apparent, noticed, and the world will know when he comes again. Just read it.
I love this article very informative. I attended this church in ridgewood, nj & one by one found a lot of things to be cultish. When I asked about this Ahnsahnghong cat & why they never told me about it their response was,” oh you don’t come enough, u don’t keep the sabbath you don’t study so that’s why you don’t know. I always felt it was odd that a korean man was preaching especially since they are some of the rudest people I have met in my life.
When I first came they told me about the bad things people say about the church with out me ever thinking to look them up.. So, today I finally did and I think this cat is a fraud. Anyone can twist the words of the bible in their favor just this AH has. I went on to be attached after saying that I am going to step away from the church and do my own research. They told me not to believe the lies on the net (but their stuff is all over the net.. Including a website.. Hmm That’s not in the scriptures but I am sure they can back that up with something) I was told how can I if I can’t interpret the scriptures. I stated my God will show me and just like the Israelis fools that stand on the street of NY promoting false teachings they asked me what God I severed as if I serve the devil bcuz I don’t wanna worship their false prophet AH.
Long story short that cat is bullshit. He gave his self a title & backed it will a bible verse. They said to me God is n scriptures so I asked is he only there bcuz u just stated he ws in the flesh and holy spirit… My relationship with God is mine and like u quoted from the bible “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Thru the spirit.. Not scriptures… #justsayn
I decided to contact you to share a story.Here it is. This is a true story, please read all of it. It happened in the world famous San Fernando Valley a City north of and thirty minutes away from Los Angeles. I used to be a SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) member. Then I went to the Church of God World Mission Society. I do believe in the Trinity and the holy bible now and always have. What I dont believe in now is religion, any religion, or cult. Here is my story its a long one but bear with me. It happened about two to three years ago. I was at my community college school one day outside of the library. I was approached by two young men. One Korean, the other Hispanic. They began preaching to me. Like always I have a open mind to things especially about the word of God. No harm right? ( So I thought at the time). They began talking about an oncoming world war that is predicted in the Bible.
I was telling myself hmm how interesting.They were using the Bible to tell me about this war that will eventually be World War 3. After about half an hour they asked me if I wanted to study with them. I said sure, then they asked me for my phone number. I then said sure no problem. They called me the next day inviting me to theyre church. I had nothing to do that day so I said I will go only if you can pick me up and drop me off again. They (COGWMS members Korean guy, and Hispanic guy) picked me up took me to theyre church, fed me first, then took me to a room and began preaching to me only using the Bible. I was there for about an hour. I dont remember what they preached to me about exactly but I believe it was about the Trinity. They had some valid points, but I was confused when they said that there were three different ages. The age of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They showed me in the Bible that Jesus says go baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Okay that was like day one, several weeks passed by and I went to theyre church about three to four times a week. Only to study through them. One day after about a month and a half they said that the name of the Father was Jehova, the name of the Son was Jesus, and then they said something that left me dumbfounded the name of the Holy Spirit is Ahnsahnhong. (Ahnsahnhong started the new age in the 1960s when he established the Church of God). They then preached to me about how this Korean man named Ahnsahnhong fulfilled certain prophecies according to the Bible and that he ascended to Heaven and promised to come back. ( A year later after i was kicked out of theyre church I found out that he died like in 1985 and is buried in Korea).They showed me a whole lot of verses I stayed there for about two hours. After that they took me home. I went back to theyre church which again they picked me up. After
another Bible session of an hour or so they asked me if I wanted to get baptized. I told them that I already was baptized they then said not under the new age under the name of the Holy Spirit Ahnsahnhong. I told them no its okay I want to attend your Church of God World Mission Society but not get baptized since I already have been. They then got into an argument with me.(Im a pretty patient person). They told me if I dont get baptized then I wont be attending theyre church and I will not be studying under them. In my mind I wanted to learn more about this newfound religion and wondered why there was this picture of a Korean lady all around the church and why there was a lot of pretty girls in that church. (hey a man is weak when it comes to women okay dont judge me, I later found out that that is one of their ploys to make you join in). So I got baptized I felt really guilty I dont know why. They then made me eat a temporary passover meal and sign my name and give them my information in a registration form. It was about ten thirty at night. Afterwards they took me home. Two months passed by and I kept learning a lot of doctrines from them. I attended their services on the Sabbath (which is the seventh day Saturday) the whole day from nine in the morning till like nine at night I stayed so I could study Scripture. I attended on Tuesdays. I learned several things like the Passover meal, the Feasts, and especially about Mother Jerusalem who lived in Korea and she supposedly cant leave Korea ( I dont know why, they never fully explained to me that). Some of their doctrines like the Sabbath, who is the antichrist, and several others is from the SDA church.The church that I used to go to for about 23 years and the church that supposedly Ahnsahnhong also got baptized in after abandoning Buddhism. One of their own doctrines besides Mother and the Holy Spirit Ahnsahnhong was that the world was going to end in 2012, and that the United Nations was evil.( After 2 years since I was kicked out I learned that in a picture on their own website one of the COGWMS representatives was shaking hands with a United Nations representative). Another thing I learned was that Mother Jerusalem arranges marriages. In other words most of the church members at the Los Angeles division had visited Mother (For some reason you can only visit her three times in Korea a flight that comes out of your own pocket) and Mother Jerusalem says you marry this person and you marry this person etc. One thing that happened one time was that I invited some ” brothers” to my home to discuss with my Dad (who is a SDA member since 1981) about the Sabbath and how it should be observed. My Dad showing them with the Bible that the Sabbath is kept from Friday sunset till Saturday sunset like the Jews. The COGWMS ” brothers” said no it is from sunrise Saturday till dawn of Sunday. ( I think that is how they observe it). Using several verses from the Bible. What impressed me and this is what made me keep going to that Church of God was how well these young men knew the Bible. My Dad just used two verses from Scripture. The Church of God ” brothers” not only used old testament verses but new testament as well. (the devil knows scripture also right?). So six months passed by. During these months I felt like apostle Paul when he used to be a Jew and then converted to the movement of Jesus. I felt it as it was my duty to prostelytized (you know preach). Boy and preached I did I went almost every single day to preach from eleven in the morning till eight at night. I went to schools, shopping malls, and also door to door in neighborhoods (especially in affluent upper middle class neighborhoods, never in poor neighborhoods, or prisons). My family was wondering why I was so into this church and I didnt know it at the time but I was actually distantcing myself from them. One day the main Pastor named Pastor XXXX (he was Korean) came back from missionary work from Oregon this is the first time I met him. He asked me several times a day that I should get a job. As a matter of fact whenever he saw me he told me (all the time) to not bother the church members for a ride and to go home walking and look for a job. (my home was about seven miles away from the church). Which I did I looked and looked but couldnt find anything. This is about the time when the job market started plummeting. One day during the Feasts of Trumpets I believe ( a very important event for Church of God members). Pastor XXXX told me to follow him. In front of other church members he said to get out of church. I asked why? He then told me to follow him to the exit of the church. After which he then told me you need to get out and stay out of this church dont ever come back again or else I will call the police. I was heartbroken I had made friends at the church, I went home and felt spiritually raped. Over the next few days (and still up to this day) I wondered why I was kicked out of the Church of God World Mission Society. I called Pastor XXXX the next week he told me that I should keep reading the Bible and that he and a missionary were going to visit me in a week.( they never came). I then called up several “brothers” of the COGWMS. A peculiar thing that they all asked me was if I followed what Pastor XXXX told me about getting a job. Which by then I did. I ended up working at a Quiznos. ( a job that i quit before i even heard of COGWMS). I then stopped contact with everyone at that church and went on with my life. Yet I still had some questions about that Church of God. About two months later I went back to my former church ( the Seventh Day Adventist church). One of the pastors ( who was going to become an ordained Catholic priest) saw me and said hey I have been wanting to speak with you about you and that Church of God. He explained to me about this Ahnsahnhong character and recommended a book to me about the New Age movement.( like I mentioned above the new age was brought about Ahnsahnhong in the 1960s when he established the Church of God) Guess when this New Age movement happened thats right in the 1960s. Its about the age of Aquarius. What these New Age movement people do (and its endorsed ideas are found in the movie The Secret, Oprah Winfreys radio show and comments she has made in her show, and Scientology, among many other celebrities the list goes on) is mix Buddhism with Christianity and several other religions like Hinduism and present it through the Bible with several radical ideas. My Pastor then proceeded to disprove all of the Church of Gods doctrines through the Bible. I am saddened at how the Devil is really hard at work these days and deceiving people in mass. Another thing I learned and this is through experience is that Koreans are very money hungry. Doesnt the Bible teach thou shalt not want? I heard a report that there are around 300 different churches in Korea that claim that they have the second coming Christ. Another cult or religion from Korea is the Unification Church which is similar. I dont know what it is about Koreans but I guess since you can not reincarnate into Buddha then you have to pick Jesus. And the Bible says that death has no power over Jesus no more. But Ahnsahnhong (supposedly second coming Jesus)died in 1985 and he predicted that he would be back in 1988. It never happened. Also I have read Ahnsahnghongs books and he never has claimed divinity. Also through some research I have come to find out that after Ahnsahnghong was baptized he had several marriages. Mother Jerusalems sister is a church money embezzler and has gone to prison for it. Some “heavenly” family. Like Jesus himself said there will be false prophets and false messiahs to deceive even the elect. This cult that I used to go to is proof of what Jesus said. It is also proof that we are living in the last days. Jesus will be coming soon in all his glory. Have a nice day. God bless.
@oscar:
You must tell me more!!!!! I met this pastor john while I was in Los Angeles, their teachings seem so convincing and now i’m extremely confused on what to believe. Please reply back with more information much help is needed!!!!!!!!!!!!
@oscar:
Keep up the good work mate. These deceivers have to be answered using the weapon of scriptures which they blatantly have abused.
@Oscar… your story sounds exactly like my daughter’s. She has been gong to COGWMS since April and we (her parents) have tried everything to get her out. Although they haven’t kicked her out, I wish they would. Her beliefs have completely changed in 6 month’s time. It scares me and I don’t know what to do to get her out. I quote scriptures from the bible and she quotes something else to the contrary. I don’t know what the missionary says or does to get all these young adults (the average age there is between 18-25) to believe him. We went a couple of times to the bible studies, and everything seemed normal. As I have found out through the internet and people I’ve talked to who have left the church, that is how they get you in. Everything seems normal in the beginning they they start to put their own “spin” on things. If you have any advice on how to get my daughter out of this situation, I would greatly appreciate it. They have such a “hold” on her that we haven’t been able to break though. Thank you
My neice has been in this church for over two years. She does not even know what is going on. She is confused she believes that God’s blessing is upon her in finding this Zion and worshipping a dead man. Her mom is in tears cannot convince her that this is a cult very scarey.