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📰The Bible is one of the best-selling and most widely distributed books in history, yet it is also considered to be among the least understood. The Bible, which is referred to as the New Covenant and Promise of God, in which 'the way to heaven and salvation' is presented, differs in theologians' interpretations that make it difficult to understand. These differing interpretations have been the cause of the rise of denominations with each one establishing their own doctrine. With the increase in online church services and gatherings resulting from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, there has been growing interest in the comparison of various church doctrine. This paper, therefore, attempts to provide readers with the opportunity to compare differing Biblical teachings without interpretation. Among a host of online sermons and Bible-based teachings, the contrasting doctrine between the established Church and Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has drawn public interest throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, is hereby compared and summarised. Best efforts have been made to provide a summary of Shincheonji Church of Jesus' understanding of the Bible. Judgment as to what is right or wrong is left to the reader’s discernment.

"The 'kingdom of heaven' is the seed of the word that Jesus sowed which grows into a large tree-like organisation where the Holy Spirit dwells"

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony

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The hope of every believer is to go to heaven, where God is. 2000 years ago, Jesus told six parables about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13. Among them, in Matthew 13:31-32, which is the main reference for today, it is written that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field, which grows and becomes a tree with the birds nesting in its branches.

What is this figurative seed that becomes heaven? God is the Word, His Son Jesus is also the Word, and God creates man through the Word. This parable is speaking of the Word (John 1:1, 1 John 1:1, James 1:18). Just as seed is sown into a field, the field in which the seed of the Word is sown is the heart of man. The tree which the seed grows into refers to one's inner being born again through the Word. In John 15, Jesus called himself the vine and his disciples the branches. What kind of bird nests on this tree? In Matthew 3:16, after Jesus was baptised, the Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove. The Holy Spirit was being figuratively likened to a bird.

Let's find out the reality of heaven in the main reference. God gave Jesus the seed of God's word of life, and Jesus, who was born from that seed, was the true vine. Moreover, in John 14:6, Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the tree of life, and the 12 disciples became the 12 branches on this tree of life. The Holy Spirit, the bird of God, came upon Jesus in this way. At the first coming, Jesus, who was the tree of life, was the kingdom of heaven on this earth. Jesus cried out in Matthew 4:17 that the kingdom of heaven was near. 2000 years ago, the place where Jesus and the 12 disciples were was heaven, and going to Jesus was the way to heaven.

However, trees also appear in Daniel 4. Just as there are two kinds of spiritual seed in the Bible, there are two kinds of spiritual trees. These two trees are the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis. In Daniel 4:20-22, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is said to be a large tree, where the birds of the air make nests and wild animals (beasts) dwell beneath. Like Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a shepherd (pastor) who serves foreign (gentile) spirits is figuratively likened to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.