“He was Not Heresy from the First”

“Heresy evaluators” with no verification or qualifications have been active in Korean Christian circles for several decades. Posing as specialists, they brandished their swords, using exclusiveness as a weapon. Numerous people have been hit by their blade and had fallen, shedding blood, victims to their strange standards. Many suffered helplessly from their malicious fabrications. Korean Christian circles overlooked these countless harmful consequences by acknowledging their exclusiveness, even using them to their advantage out of jealousy of their rapidly growing fellow workers. Pastors who earnestly studied the Bible were ostracized, not for being wrong, but for being “different.” There was no process of detailed investigation or the listening of objections. Because of this, the biblical understanding within Korean churches were held at lower standards. These Korean churches that didn’t focus on the Bible with sincerity settled for inconsistent faith and became the target of criticism of the secular and money-oriented world.

Then in the end of 2012, a serious incident occurred. The chief “heresy evaluator” Rev. Sam Kyung Choi claimed tritheism, which denies the Trinity, a key factor of Christianity. He also claimed the “menstrual conceived theory,” that Jesus was born of Mary through menstruation. He was ruled as the “worst heretic of the history of Christianity” by the Christian Council of Korea. This very man who was branded as “the most evil heretic” concentrated his attacks on the founding senior pastor of Pyungkang Cheil Church, Rev. Abraham Park. The root of this dispute dates back to 1975.

Rev. Abraham Park of the rapidly growing Daesung Church (Pyungkang Cheil Church’s previous name), was introduced to Rev. Shin Myung Kang of Saemoonan Church and heretic researcher Mr. Tak, and provided monthly funds with the hopes to put a stop to the rampant domination of heretical sects. However, in September 1978, when Mr. Tak published on the front page of the daily newspaper that the Unification Church was not heretical, Daesung Church stopped funding him. This marked the start of Mr. Tak’s persistent claim that “Rev. Abraham Park and Daesung Church are heretics.” He claimed, “Rev. Park preaches that Cain was born as a result of a sexual relationship between Eve and the serpent.” He also claimed that Rev. Park was in the Mission Hall of the heretic sect, the Unification Church. All these claims were proven false at court. A reward of 100 million Won was promised to anyone who could provide a recording of the claims, but to this day, no one has been able to provide such evidence. The claim that Rev. Park was in the Unification Church Mission Hall was also proven wrong when it was revealed that a person was found in the group who carried the same Korean name as Rev. Park, but spelled with different Chinese characters.

Following court ruling, Mr. Tak formally apologized multiple times, even visiting Daesung Church to make his apology. However, he then turned around and once again began his relentless attacks against Rev. Park. His attacks were succeeded by Rev. Sam Kyung Choi. In the 1991 General Assembly of the PCK-Tonghap (The Presbyterian Church of Korea), Rev. Abraham Park was ruled as a heretic due to Rev. Sam Kyung Choi’s bias claims and unverified fraudulent evidence. All member bodies accepted the ruling without any separate verification. This became a political victory and golden age for heresy evaluators. Fifteen years of lies and tears later, on September 2016, the joint “special pardon member” meeting of PCK-Tonghap confessed the following:

“There is no truthful evidence that Rev. Abraham Park preached, “Eve conceived Cain through a sexual relationship with the serpent,” which was the main reason for his heretical standing by us. The fact that Rev. Abraham Park’s sermon on “Seed Deception” did not have the same sex motifs as that of the Unification church and that he was not a member of the missionary group of the Unification Church was all confirmed by court of law. We express regret to the late reverend, his family, and to the members of Pyungkang Cheil Church, in failing to properly realize the truth throughout this entire time.”

However, the reversal between the era of truth and the era of lies has already been long ago. Rev. Abraham Park’s immortal masterpiece, The History of Redemption Series, first published in 2007, astonishing Christian circles nationwide. There were roughly 100 cases of Biblical interpretations that were “revealed for the first time in history” through this series. The heresy evaluators who had once accused Rev. Park of heresy through fabrications must have searched passionately for faults to criticize. None have been found for the past ten years. Rather, the work was respected and praised by not only great Korean Christian scholars like Dr. Kyung Bae Min (Former dean of Yonsei University’s Theological school), but also by great theologians worldwide, such as Dr. Bruce Waltke. This era in Christianity was made possible by the voluntary theological verification by honest scholars.

Reformed Graduate University, the country’s best in biblical skills, stated in December 2009 that “after thorough theological research, it is concluded that there are no problems in Rev. Abraham Park’s theological thoughts.” In February 2012, Sung Ki Ho (former president of Sungkyul University), Na Chae Woon (former dean of Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary), Do Han Ho (president of Korea Baptist Theological University), Ye Young Soo (former dean of Hanshin Graduate University) and other representative scholars from each denomination reported that “the theology of Rev. Abraham Park holds no heretical characteristics, and previous claims regarding his heresy were based on distorted facts.” Then finally on December 17th, 2013, the Christian Council of Korea, the representative union of Korean Christian circles, concluded, “Claims of Rev. Abraham Park’s heresy by the Presbyterian Church of Korea and General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea were based on fabrications, distortions or misunderstandings.” A pastor of the Christian Council of Korea said, “Up until recently, I also did not know why Rev. Abraham Park was labeled a heretic, but I believed it to be true because other people said so. However, I met Rev. Abraham Park and read books 7, 8 and 9 of The History of Redemption Series in one sitting. I then decided to serve and respect Rev. Abraham Park for the rest of my life. I thought to myself ‘How can a book like this be written?’ Why did heresy evaluators label such a man a heretic?” (Cho Gab Moon, previous co-president of Christian Council of Korea, former president of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea)

Many wondered why Pyungkang Cheil Church was attacked with the problem of heresy. Many people said, “There is no smoke without fire.” Others reacted with common sense, saying, “I don’t know what it is but I’m not going to that church.” There were a few ministers, theologians and saints that researched and reviewed references and attended church services. Among those who came to confirm things with their own eyes and ears, not a single person said, “this church really is heretical.”

Finally, after 15 years, the PCK-Tonghap acknowledged that they “labeled churches as heretics based on wrong facts” and expressed their regrets. However, just ten days after this final announcement, they canceled the “heresy release” on September 12, 2016, confounding Christian Circles.

The heresy evaluators have been persistently sabotaging us and their political dynamics worked again this time, just as they had on that day in 1991. But no one can hide the truth and no one can block justice. The wave of the Word of God through The History of Redemption Series is moving towards the great ocean and the accurate timetable of God is progressing toward the predetermined time without a single second of error. Reverend Abraham Park had said, “Due to never-ending unjustified attacks, I have been through great pain and was so hurt that I even lost all my teeth. However, I was not stirred at all because I knew that before God, all truth will be revealed.” He also taught us to pray for them earnestly. Our Pyungkang Cheil Church will continue to love and move forward in modesty to become a lamp that lights our nation and the Korean Christian circles.