Shincheonji Church of Jesus

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (SCJ), commonly known as Shincheonji Church of Jesus or simply Shincheonji (Korean: 신천지; Hanja: 新天地; lit. 'New Heaven and New Earth'; IPA: [ɕintɕʰʌndʑi]), is a Abrahamic monotheistic new religious movement established in South Korea by Lee Man-hee. It has been described as a pseudoreligion or cult by mainstream churches; however, its proponents say there is no proof for this claim.

Shincheonji's teaching claims that their chairman, Lee Man Hee, is the pastor promised in the New Testament, and that the Book of Revelation is written in secret parables whose meaning was revealed to Chairman Lee by God. Shincheonji teaches it is the one true religion, with its members receiving salvation at the Last Judgment. Its adherents believe everyone not in the group will be denied forgiveness and destroyed.

In 2020, the group became the center of intense scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. The outbreak of COVID-19 was initially centered in Daegu after a 61-year-old Shincheonji member known as "Patient 31" infected other church members, causing the pandemic to surge in the city. As the disease spread among Shincheonji members and thousands of others, there was a national outcry against the group, and by February 22, 2020 over 1.3 million South Korean citizens signed an online petition to the Blue House requesting the government to disband Shincheonji entirely. On August 12, 2022, the Supreme Court of Korea upheld the acquittal of Lee Man Hee on charges that he obstructed the government's response to COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020.