Disguised as a sect of Christianity, Mentuhui is, in essence, a cult hiding behind the pretext of religious freedom. In this way, it has deceived a large number of followers. Yet the nature of the cult can still be exposed by analyzing its core doctrines.
How JiSanbao Was Deified
Portrait of JiSanbao
Ji Sanbao can be said to have started with pseudo-Christianity by twisting the interpretation of the Bible for his own use. In 1977, he was baptized by True Jesus Churchand joined them. Yet in 1982, when The Shouters cult was introduced to the local people, he betrayed the True Jesus Church and became a leader of The Shouters. In 1983, the cult was banned and he lost leadership of the followers, so he then turned to underground activities. Two years later, in 1985, he claimed to have beenlightened by God and coined the doctrines of Seven Steps Towards Heaven, and founded Mentuhui.
True Jesus Church as the First Teacher of Ji Sanbao
True Jesus Church was founded during the first Pentecostalism movement in China in the year 1917. It denies the Trinity and believes in the Unitarianism of Jesus. According to them, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are but different forms of Jesus. They require the followers to observe the Sabbath and Ten Commandments. They claim to be the Real Church founded by the Holy Spirit and the Ark to save the world.
The Shouters Served as the Prototype of Mentuhui
The Shouters was a sect founded by Witness Lee in the USA in the 1960s and introduced into China in the 1980s. It also opposes the Trinity in the same way as the early churches which believed the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are but different forms of Jesus. The idea was denounced as heresy in the 325 A.D. by the First Council of Nicaea (a meeting of early churches to attain consensus in Christian teachings). According to the followers of The Shouters, Jesus lived in the past and He will not come to save people. They believe that only Witness Lee can save people. These ideas are obviously hostile to Christianity. Yet the supremacy of Witness Lee inspired Ji Sanbao greatly and he founded Mentuhui as an updated version of The Shouters.
The above two heretical thoughts are the foundation of JiSanbao’s belief. It can be seen that his ideas about God and religion were wrong in the first place.
How Ji Sanbao Distorted the Bible
Mentuhui Books
Ji Sanbao only received a primary school education, thus he only had a shallow understanding of Christianity. As a result, he chose to misinterpret the obscure teachings in the Bible to his advantage. In this way, the followers were deceived by him. He seemed to be humble, yet in his inner world he was arrogant and greedy, a fact which was demonstrated by his belittling of Jesus and boasting of himself. He misinterpreted the Bible and his understanding of the Bible was full of holes and extremely absurd.
The most dramatic example was when he quoted from the Bible of the birthplace of Jesus in order to prove himself to be Jesus. The Bible mentioned a place named Mount Zion, which sounds like Xi’an in Chinese. As a result, Ji misinterpreted the place as the Chinese city Xi’an and claimed that he was born in Xi’an, the place predicted in the Bible where Lord would be reborn. In fact, Ji was born in Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province, nearly 70 km away from Xi’an. The place mentioned in the Bible, Mount Zion, was actually a mountainous town in Jerusalem, which had nothing to do with the Chinese city of Xi’an.
Moreover, the Bible says “Who has raised from the east him whom saving justice summons in its train, him to whom Jehova delivers up the nations and subjects kings. (Isaiah 41: 2)” Ji claimed that this Eastern place was China and the man referred to is him. Such ridiculous misinterpretation resembles that of the “female Christ” of the Church of Almighty God. In fact, people who have knowledge about the Bible understand that the man referred to was the king of Persiaand the prophecy had already been fulfilled in the 6th Century BC when the King conquered different states and established the powerful Persian Empire.
It was through such tricks that Ji deceived his followers and became the supreme leader in the cult, with his lust for power satisfied.
The Nature of the Cult Exposed by Its Core Doctrines
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The core doctrines of Mentuhui are as follows: Ji Sanbao is the incarnation of Jesus who came to save the world. Only by believing in him can people be saved. Ji represents the third occasion of salvation; with the first one being Noah's Ark and the second one being the crucifixion of Jesus. Ji is Jesus but with a changed name. To prove their heretical interpretation, the followers have fabricated many miracles and stories of Ji sacrificing himself and undergoing trials and tests.
These claims appear to recognize the salvation of Jesus, yet it was actually trying to replace Christianity with Mentuhui. It is nothing but a heresy disguised as a sect of Christianity, which si a demon itself.
It is wasy to expose the nature of Mentuhui from the perspective of orthodoxChristianity.
