David Jang

David Jang has become an increasingly influential figure in Asian and now American evangelicalism, says Christianity Today in the introduction to an August, 2012 investigative report.

He and his followers have founded media outlets (e.g. The Christian Post and the International Business Times) -- and Olivet University, a San Francisco-based Christian college and are key influencers in the World Evangelical Alliance.

Many people say Jang leads a group that has encouraged the belief that he's the 'Second Coming Christ.' Reportedly Jang specifically denied ever teaching this.

Critics in Korea, Japan, and China say he was at one time involved in Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Some former members say that they have heard teachings that bore similarities to the teachings of Sun Myung Moon -- that Jesus' work was left unfinished and in need of another "Christ" to complete it.

In its investigative report Christianity Today says

No one CT talked to for this story claimed that the "history lessons" that allegedly encourage the belief that Jang is the "Second Coming Christ" were ever taught in Olivet classrooms, or that Apostolos or Young Disciples members have encouraged the belief among its members in recent years.

Yet questions and concerns remain regarding Jang and his organizations.

This article is a stub. More resources may be added over time.

Articles

• The Second Coming Christ Controversy By Ted Olsen and Ken Smith. An investigative report published by Christianity Today (CT), September 2012, Vol. 56, No. 8. Ted Olsen is CT's managing editor, news and online journalism. Ken Smith, an independent journalist based in Washington State, has been investigating David Jang on his blog, Confessions of a Would-Be Theologian

  [...] Jang is a controversial figure who, according to credible reports, has been hailed by some of his followers as the "Second Coming Christ."

  Over the last five years, ministries and organizations founded by or connected to Jang have gained influence in American and global evangelical ministries, including the World Evangelical Alliance. Yet in the same period, a number of mainstream Christian organizations in Korea and China have severed relationships with his affiliated organizations after investigating such claims and finding them credible. Other groups have reconfirmed their ties after their investigations cleared him. Now, as Jang's businesses and ministries have sought greater recognition and expansion in the United States, Christian leaders and ministries here are asking similar questions about Jang, his affiliated organizations, and their theology.

  The details of Jang's early life are in question, and multiple efforts to contact him for this story's publication were unsuccessful.

  Critics in Korea, Japan, and China say he was involved in Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. They point to his appearance in a 1989 student handbook for Moon's Sung Hwa Theological Seminary as an assistant professor of theology, teaching systematic theology and Unification theology. They also cite a 2002 history of Sun Moon University praising him for helping to fund the school.

  Jang's defenders, on the other hand, say the critics have fabricated evidence and that Jang merely joined an anti-Communist club that also included Unification Church members.

  News N Joy, a Korean Christian website, reported in 2004 that it had four conversations with Jang about his career in the Unification Church after Jang objected to one of the site's articles. In the interview, Jang said the description in the Sun Moon University history book was inaccurate, but acknowledged that he had worked for the school until 1995 (he did not officially resign until 1998). "He explained that the reason he was involved in Sun Moon University was to teach orthodox theology to Unification Church members," the site reported. "In addition, he added that he led a lot of deluded people to the way of truth."

  Both sides agree that Jang has long had more orthodox ties. According to a résumé Jang submitted to the Christian Council of Korea, he received his M.Div. from Hanshin University in 1990 and a Ph.D. from Dankook University in 1992. That same year, he was ordained as a Korean Presbyterian minister, and by 1999 he was moderator of the Hang Dong Presbytery.

  But according to several sources with experience in Jang-associated organizations and communities, many members of the movement believed that the key event in Jang's early missionary endeavors is not in his résumé—nor, indeed, in any written source. It was believed, these sources said, that in or around 1992, early follower Borah Lin told Jang that she believed he was the "Second Coming Christ"—not Jesus Christ himself, but rather a new messianic figure that would complete Jesus' earthly mission. According to several former members, Lin became an important spiritual figure in Jang's closest circles.

• The Second Coming Christ Controversy: More Leaders Speak Out Ted Olsen and Ken Smith, Christianity Today, Sep. 12, 2012: "David Jang's emissaries to Singapore speak for the first time on why they believed he was a new Christ, why they changed their minds, and how his organization operates."

  As the Southeast Asia representative for David Jang's organizations—pastor of his churches, proprietor of his businesses, and editor of his Christian news website—Edmond Chua believed that Jang was a new Christ, a messianic figure establishing the kingdom of God on earth. [...]

  He doesn't believe it anymore—nor does his teacher, Susan. The two married on David Jang's birthday, October 30, 2006—the 14th anniversary of the founding of Jang's movement—along with 69 other couples, Susan said. Like most of the other couples, the Chuas' marriage was arranged by the movement's leaders.

• Christian Media Battle Over Controversial Figure by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald, Religion Dispatches, Sep. 30, 2012.

  In the relatively calm seas of the Christian media, a storm has erupted between Christianity Today, arguably the mouthpiece of contemporary American evangelicalism, and the Christian Post, a smaller competitor. At the center of the storm is David Jang, a popular preacher in East Asia but a relatively unknown figure in the United States, who has ties to the late Rev. Moon’s Unification Church and, according to sources in a recent Christianity Today article, may have led his followers to conclude that he is a “Second Coming Christ.” [...]

  [Ted Olsen and Ken Smith] investigated claims that members of David Jang’s ministries were encouraged to believe that Jang embodies a “Second Coming Christ,” an act of blasphemy for Christians. In addition to drawing further ties between Jang and Rev. Moon, who famously declared himself the messiah, this recent controversy hits close to home for evangelicals because of Jang’s ties to many parachurch organizations with seemingly orthodox beliefs.

  While Olsen and Smith are careful to cite sources who both confirm and deny that members are led to believe that Jang is the second coming of Christ, the article leaves the reader with the sense that, at least for a time, many of Jang’s followers did believe it.

  Additionally, the CT article points out that the connections between Jang and the Unification Church go beyond surface similarities, noting that Jang taught at a UC seminary for 9 years (1989-1998), though in later interviews Jang claimed to be infiltrating the seminary with orthodox theology.

  With Jang’s credibility called into question, along with affiliated ministries like Olivet University in San Francisco, the World Evangelical Alliance, and the Christian Post, a number of these affiliates went on the defensive.

  No response was more immediate, or more aggressive, than that of the Christian Post.

  See Also
  The Christian Post’s Troubling Attacks on Critics of David Jang A quick overview of the controversy, by Christian blogger Richard Bartholomew.

  Strange Things Afoot in Christian Media In-depth, multi-part analysis by Timoythy Dalrymple, at his Philosophical Fragments blog.

Blogs

• Confessions of a Would-Be Theologian This link highlight all of Ken Smith's posts regarding David Jang
• The Davidian Watcher Anonymous blog critical of David Jang

See Also

• NAE investigating possible Glorieta buyer Associated Baptist Press, August 16, 2012.

  The National Association of Evangelicals is studying the theology of a potential buyer of Glorieta Conference Center to guide staff leaders and trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources in deciding whether to sell the 2,100-acre encampment near Santa Fe, N.M., that has lost money 24 of the last 25 years.

  The study is a “primary condition” regarding sale of the property to Olivet University, a school led by former Southern Baptist missionary and seminary professor Bill Wagner, according to a 5,500-word investigative news story in Christianity Today.

  Questions about Olivet – which is unrelated to the similarly named Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. – focus not on Wagner, who served as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2003-2004 and finished fourth in a field of six candidates who ran for SBC president in 2008.

  Instead, they center on the school’s founder – Korean pastor David Jang -- and murky connections to various Christian businesses including the popular news websites The Christian Post and Christian News Today. [...]

  The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 local churches from over 40 different denominations as a united voice for millions of U.S. evangelicals, is a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The WEA lists Olivet University as a “world partner.”

  Along with other partner groups, including the Micah Network and World Vision International, Olivet serves as a “non-structured ministry partner … in a specialized field” to contribute to achieving the WEA's objective, according to the ministry website.

• What does it take to belong to the WEA? By Ken Smith, Confessions of a Would-Be Theologian

  The World Evangelical Alliance is one of the oldest international Evangelical organizations in the world. Its history goes back to 1846, and its leadership has, in the past, included such luminaries as Harold J. Ockenga and John R. W. Stott.

  It’s possible that its standards have decreased in recent years, however. I’ve documented elsewhere the extent to which the WEA seems to have fallen under the influence of David Jang. But it wasn’t until recently that it was pointed out to me just how many of its affiliate organizations are also associated with David Jang. For instance, there are currently 12 “Global Partners” listed on the WEA website. Of those 12, four of them are associated with David Jang in some fashion:

  • Christian Media Corporation International (no website)
  • Olivet University
  • World Evangelical Theological Institute Association
  • World Olivet Assembly

  In addition, the WEA lists some 102 “Associates”. Of those, 16 are affiliated with David Jang in some fashion:

  • Apostolos Campus Ministry
  • Barnabas Relief
  • Christians in Media
  • Creatio International
  • Diakonos International
  • Elim Center International
  • Faith and Family Foundation
  • Gospel & Information Technology
  • Holy Bible Society
  • Jubilee World
  • Lexis Dei Fellowship
  • Olivet Center for World Mission
  • Saint Luke Society
  • Veritas Legal Society
  • Young Disciples of Jesus
  • Youth Evangelical Fellowship

  But you know what’s weird? Of those 16 affiliates, all of their websites are hosted on the exact same IP address (209.116.59.41 – check it out).

  Beyond that, if I had to wager, I’d venture that most of those aren’t real organizations, i.e., what you’d call real, with an independent life of their own, an office, a budget, leadership, a mission, and above all, an ability and a history of actually doing something. Specifically, given what I’ve learned about how strongly David Jang’s people try to appear bigger and more professional than they are, I’d be willing to bet that these organizations out of those above aren’t actually “real”:

  • Barnabas Relief
  • Christians in Media
  • Creatio International
  • Diakonos International
  • Elim Center International
  • Faith and Family Foundation
  • Gospel & Information Technology
  • Holy Bible Society
  • Lexis Dei Fellowship
  • Veritas Legal Society

  [...]

  But I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised at this. It’s become all too evident that the WEA has basically become just another David Jang subsidiary.

  Note: In an update Ken Smith writes that several of the websites mentioned have since moved to different IP addresses (all on the same day).

• World Evangelical Alliance: in de greep van het grote geld? (Dutch) "World Evangelical Alliance: in the grip of big money?" (Google Translation) Blog post by Jos Strengholt, a Dutch Anglican priest in Heliopolis, Egypt

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