David Jang and Christian Today Face ‘The Second Coming Christ’ Allegations in Japan
[David Jang and his followers ②] The United Church of Christ in Japan says “testimonies by former members continue to emerge, allegations cannot be resolved”
Newsnjoy felt the need to report again on the story of Pastor David Jang, who is facing allegations of being believed as ‘The Second Coming Christ,’ after what happened at Christian Today in Korea and Japan this year.
It is a problem that a pastor has legal and moral flaws, but receiving allegations of being believed in the Second Coming is a different matter. It is questionable what the related organizations exist for, where the money they earn goes, and whether they exist to help David Jang, who they believe is the Second Coming Lord. In particular, Christian Today pretends to be an orthodox Christian media, but what is the purpose of its existence?
Newsnjoy will publish a series of detailed content covered over the past month. First up is what happened in Japan. — Editor’s note
Korean: 일본에서도 재림주 의혹, 장재형과 ＜크리스천투데이＞(December 7 2018, 08:00 p.m. GMT+9)
By Yongpil Lee
“The United Church of Christ in Japan reaffirms its decision that it will not participate in Christian Today Japan and other organizations related to Rev. David Jang.”
Japan’s largest Protestant denomination, The United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ·日本基督教団), released a statement endorsed by Chairman Hideo Ishibashi on January 27 this year. The statement warns churches to be watchful of Rev. David Jang, who is suspected of being believed as ‘The Second Coming,’ and Christian Today in Japan, which was founded in 2002 by Jang. UCCJ had previously made a statement in 2008 that it will not “have any relationship with Christian Today until the allegations that Rev. David Jang is believed as the Second Coming were resolved.”
There was a reason why UCCJ issued another statement with similar content 10 years after the first statement. UCCJ stated that churches and organizations that support David Jang held Bible studies to lead members to believe in Pastor Jang as the Second Coming Christ. Furthermore, they forced the members to work free of charge and instructed the members to take out loans to give money to the church.
In February of this year, UCCJ held a briefing session on this issue. UCCJ’s Cult Issue Liaison Committee who hosted the briefing session showed an interview video of a person who left the church founded by David Jang. The former member did evangelism work in the church community. He said that he owed a total of 1 million yen while doing this work. He said he spent 350,000 yen a month to pay the church rent, and he didn’t receive any money for the activity expenses. He also testified that he got an instruction to write articles for Christian Today in Japan.
The allegations made in Japan that David Jang is believed to be the Second Coming are not different from those in Korea and other countries. Former members testified that they believed Pastor Jang was the Second Coming Christ and suffered monetary loss. Their appearance caused a stir in the Japanese religious circle. Newsnjoy visited Tokyo, Japan for 3 days to report on the recurring accusations made against David Jang.
The lawsuit in 2008 concludes 5 years later
“There is no evidence to prove David Jang was taught as the Second Coming Christ”
Re-investigation by Japanese religious circles “suspicion remains”
David Jang has organizations and churches in various countries, including Korea and the United States. In Japan, where the controversy is still ongoing, Jang started his full-fledged activities in 2002. He established Christian Today and Tokyo Sophia Church (now Tokyo Light of Love Church) and began to expand his church by preaching mainly on university campuses. Things didn’t go smoothly. Like in Korea, Jang’s history in the Unification Church and the ‘Second Coming Christ’ allegations were made, and the Japanese religious circles became wary of David Jang and the organizations and churches he founded.
The ‘Second Coming Christ’ allegations against David Jang have been consistently made by Major Makodo Yamaya, a member of the Japanese Salvation Army. He claimed that Pastor David Jang’s group taught and believed in Jang as the Second Coming Christ. When Major Yamaya posted articles about it on his blog, Christian Today in Japan filed a lawsuit for damages in 2008, saying “Major Yamaya is spreading false information.”
The lawsuit proceeded for five years. In 2013, the court ruled in favor of Christian Today in Japan, saying, “There is no objective evidence to support that David Jang was taught as the Second Coming Christ.” The court ordered Yamaya to pay a total of 1.22 million yen. Immediately after the verdict, Christian Today in Japan extensively published an announcement of the victory.
After the court ruling, UCCJ said it was necessary to resolve its position regarding Pastor David Jang. UCCJ decided to establish its position through its research and investigation apart from the court ruling. The investigation was entrusted to the Cult Issues Liaison Committee. The investigation started in September 2016 and continued until January this year.
Newsnjoy met Pastor Atsushi Saito (UCCJ’s Fusakawa Church), who was in charge of the investigation, on November 27 at UCCJ office in Tokyo. Pastor Saito said he checked each of the 3,000 documents submitted to the Major Yamaya trial, and he met with former members to listen to their stories. He said that the court only ruled in favor of Christian Today Japan due to lack of evidence, but the Second Coming allegations Pastor David Jang faces had not been resolved.
Pastor Saito brought up the story of the lawsuit between Major Yamaya and Christian Today Japan. He said, “I have read all the trial records. Christian Today announced that they won, but did not mention any difficult parts that were revealed during the trial. For example, the judge ruled that there is a possibility that unorthodox teachings regarding the Second Coming of Christ were taught at Tokyo Sophia Church founded by David Jang. Also, the judge said that Christian Today and other organizations were under the control of David Jang. They are really important points, but Christian Today in Japan is silent on these points.”
At the time of the trial, Major Yamaya submitted a note written by a Japanese member of Tokyo Sophia Church as evidence supporting the Second Coming Christ allegations against David Jang. This notebook was written by a former member while he was in a Bible study at Sophia Church in Tokyo. The notebook contained a story about the Second Coming Christ who was to come again ‘not as Jesus Christ.’ Major Yamaya argued at the trial, “The Second Coming means David Jang.” The court ruled that it is possible that Tokyo Sophia Church had teachings about the Second Coming, but it was not certain whether the Second Christ was David Jang.
“This notebook belongs to a former member, and his parents took it out of his home and gave it to the defendant (Major Yamaya). In the notebook, the date and place are written as 2002 in Tokyo Sophia Church. It contains notes of teachings about the second coming of Christ not as Jesus Christ. This is a departure from the doctrine of orthodox Christianity, and it is acknowledged that the former member was a member of the Tokyo Sophia Church at the time in 2002. Based on these facts, it is recognized that there is a possibility that unorthodox teachings about the second coming of Christ were taught at the Tokyo Sophia Church at the time.
However, there is no explicit indication that David Jang is the Christ who has come. The court verdict writes that even if the note was written by a former member of Tokyo Sophia Church, it cannot be recognized as evidence that the doctrine that David Jang was the Second Coming Christ was taught at Tokyo Sophia Church and other companies run by the plaintiff.”
The testimony of the former members played a major role in UCCJ’s decision to make a statement in January of this year. Pastor Saito said, “There are many former members who have suffered monetary loss and emotional distress. They believed in Pastor Jang as the Second Coming Christ, and they ran into debt while doing what they call ‘ministry,’ Newsnjoy will address this issue in detail in the next article.
Pastor Saito said that even with ongoing allegations, there are people in the churches in Japan who support Pastor David Jang and the organizations he founded. He said, “It is a small number, but there are supporters of Pastor Jang even in our denomination. Even though the allegations have not been completely resolved, they support Pastor Jang, and even Christian Today Japan.”
Christian Today Japan, which UCCJ is wary of, recruited Japanese religious figures around 2011. Pastor Tatsuhiro Mineno (Yodobashi Church) is a prime example. In the religious circles of Japan, Pastor Mineno is known as an influential person with only a few who may not know him. Pastor Mineno currently serves as the chairman of Christian Today in Japan.
Pastor Saito said, “Japan’s Christian Today has recruited as its management team figures from UCCJ and other evangelical denominations since 2011. When hiring staff and reporters, they also recruited ordinary Christians through open recruitment. This makes Christian Today appear as an orthodox Christian media outlet. At that time, I also thought of Christian Today as an orthodox Christian media. It is necessary to be wary just based on the issues raised now, but for some reason, quite a few pastors are supporting Pastor Jang’s group.”
Christian Today employees make a group statement
“CEO and vice-editor are die-hard followers of David Jang
Strange accusations against the UCCJ
In Japan too, claims that Newsnjoy is ‘pro-North Korean’
Second Coming allegations about David Jang were not only raised by the UCCJ but also within Christian Today Japan. In January this year, seven employees who were hired through public recruitment issued a statement of apology to the Japanese religious community. They said, “we see many controversies inside. Even though the allegations of the Second Coming have not been resolved, we have been foolishly participating in Christian Today. We apologize for this.” They quit working for Christian Today Japan right after releasing the statement.
Newsnjoy met a former employee of Christian Today in Tokyo on November 27. He worked from 2016 to 2018 and said that he joined Christian Today thinking that it was an orthodox Christian media. However, he later found out that key executives were followers of David Jang and felt betrayed.
The former employee said, “When I went out to cover a story, I heard from many people asking me whether I came from a cult, and some interview requests were turned down. We knew there were allegations, but we believed that it wasn’t true and worked hard. We even voluntarily became shields for the CEO and the vice-editor. Turns out, they were David Jang’s die-hard followers. I feel so regretful and betrayed.”
The former employee said, “Now that I think about it, I have a lot of doubts. The president and the vice-editor, who follow David Jang, have been particular about denouncing The United Church of Christ in Japan. Also, they often talked about criticizing Newsnjoy in Korea. I heard it being said ‘it gets paid to write articles from North Korea,’ ‘the reporters are all students and volunteers who cannot be trusted,’ ‘its first CEO was arrested for raising money by lying.’”
Just like Christian Today in Korea claims to be the ‘№1 religious press,’ Christian Today in Japan introduces itself as ‘the most visited Christian media in Japan.’ It claims that 400,000 people visit the site every month. However, a former employee said, “There are a lot of visitors. But when I was working inside, I looked into it and saw that more visitors were coming from the US than from Japan. I thought it was odd.”
Christian Today Japan denies David Jang’s Second Coming allegation
“There is no credibility to claims that people suffered damage.”
Newsnjoy visited Tokyo Light of Love Church (formerly Tokyo Sophia Church) and Christian Today Japan to listen to the story from Pastor David Jang’s organizations regarding the Second Coming allegations. The Light of Love Church was closed for two days. On November 28, the reporter visited the Christian Today office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. At the entrance to the office on the 4th floor of the building, there was a nameplate with “Christian Today, Inc.” in Japanese. As soon as I knocked, President Yada appeared.
The reporter introduced himself and said that he had come to report on the allegations Pastor David Jang faces as being believed to be the Second Coming Christ. President Yada said that they had already taken a stand regarding the issue and said to refer to the article they wrote. When David Jang’s Second Coming allegations were raised in Hong Kong, Christian Today Japan published their confession of faith in May 2007 and denied the allegations. Christian Today stated, “Pastor David Jang is not the Second Coming. We are a community of faith that believes in Jesus Christ.”
When asked what he thought of the claims that former members suffered damages in Japan, he said, “I don’t think it’s reliable. It’s also written in the article, so please read it.” When asked what he would do if such allegations continue to arise in the future, he said, “We will review them and write an article.”
The reporter also questioned the reasons for publishing slanderous articles and making false accusations about Newsnjoy without any basis. President Yada did not specifically reply to the question but said, “In the past, we only translated articles from Christian Today in Korea and published them. Currently, [the article about Newsnjoy] is not published.” When asked about their relationship with Christian Today in Korea, he replied, “We have the right to translate articles from Christian Today in Korea and we have a business partnership.”
When asked if the Christian Today website in Japan is accessed by visitors from the US more than from Japan, President Yada said, “Some come from overseas. However, the number of visitors from Japan is much higher.” The conversation with President Yada ended in less than 20 minutes. When the reporter wanted to have a more in-depth conversation, President Yada refused, saying, “I am expecting a visitor soon.”
“Bible studies held discretely
The studies lead to ‘David Jang = Second Coming Christ”
From monetary exploitation to emotional distress
The testimonies of former members in Japan and the reactions of organizations related to David Jang are no different from what happened in Korea, the U.S., and Hong Kong 10 years ago. A former member said, “I believed in David Jang as the Second Coming Christ. These lessons were not given openly, and although each teacher was different, most did not say directly that ‘David Jang is the Second Coming Christ.’ However, if you follow the Bible studies, you naturally believe in David Jang as the Second Coming Christ.”
What follows the Second Coming allegations is ‘money exploitation.’ A former employee of Christian Today Japan said, “There were many times when my salary wasn’t paid on time for some reason. There were even times when my salary was less than the original amount. There was even a case of embezzlement of 30 million by President Yada. I formally asked the board to resolve this issue, but it was not dealt dismissed without being dealt with. When the staff, including me, protested strongly to the board, they told us to leave the company.”
The former employee said, “At least we received all the overdue wages before we left the company. However, among those who worked in David Jang’s organizations and churches, many people are in debt. It was because they had to give money.” Newsnjoy also met with a former member of Tokyo Sophia Church. In the next article, Newsnjoy will report on the story of the former members who believed in David Jang as the Second Coming Christ and have suffered monetary loss and emotional distress.
[David Jang and his followers]
① Christian Today Proves It’s a ‘Cover for David Jang’
②David Jang and Christian Today Face ‘The Second Coming Christ’ Allegations in Japan
