Shamanistic Influences In Korean Pentecostal Christianity: An Analysis
Cho: The Controversy
Spring 2000
By Jeremy Reynalds
Synan plays down the controversy over Cho when he says that the only difference between these statements and the American Assemblies of God is the article on "Blessings," which is further amplified in a subsidiary statement titled, "The Threefold Blessings of Salvation." These blessings include salvation for the soul, material prosperity and physical health. It is primarily Cho's theological stance on divine healing, blessing and prosperity that has generated so much controversy.
For example, in his book The Fourth Dimension, Cho writes "Jesus is bound to what you speak forth. As well as you can release Jesus' power through your spoken word, you can also create the presence of Christ. If you do not speak the word of faith clearly, Christ can never be released" (Cho, 1979, pg's 81-82).
In another section of the same book, Cho explains his controversial theory of the fourth dimension.
Because this is such an integral part of Cho's thinking and theology, the portion is reproduced below in its entirety.
In the universe there are three types of spirits - the Holy Spirit of God, the spirit of the devil and the human spirit. When you study geometry you put up two points, one here, and one there, and if you draw a line between the two you call it one dimension. It is just one line between the points, one dimension. But if you add line upon line by the hundreds of thousands, then one dimension naturally creates a second dimension, a plane. And if you stack up planes one upon another then it becomes cubic; this is called the third dimension. The material world and the whole earth belong to the third dimension.
This first dimension, a line, is contained in and therefore controlled by, the second dimension, a plane; and the second dimension is included in and therefore controlled by, the third dimension, the cube. Who then creates, contains and controls the third dimension, the cubical world? You have the answer when you open the Bible and read in Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
But if you look into the original language of that Scripture, it carries the meaning that the Spirit of the Lord was incubating over the waters, brooding over the waters. This chaotic world belonged to the third dimension, but the Holy Spirit, who is pictured here incubating on the third dimension, belongs to the fourth dimension. So the spiritual kingdom of faith belongs to the fourth dimension.
Since the spiritual world hugged the third dimension, incubating on the third dimension, it was by this incubation of the fourth dimension on the third dimension that the earth was recreated. A new order was given out of the old, and life was given from death; beauty from ugliness; cleanliness from those things dirty; and abundance from poverty. Everything was created beautiful and wonderful by the incubation of the fourth dimension.
Then God spoke to my heart, "Son, as the second dimension includes and controls the first dimension, and the third dimension includes and controls the second dimension, so the fourth dimension includes and controls the third dimension, producing a creation of order and beauty. The spirit is the fourth dimension. Every human being is a spiritual being as well as a physical being. They have the fourth dimension as well as the third dimension in their hearts." So men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension through the development of concentrated visions and dreams in their imaginations, can brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it. This is what the Holy Spirit taught me (Cho 1979:38-40).
Cho concludes The Fourth Dimension by writing that God's children have all the power of God dwelling within them.
"You can tap that power for your tuition, your clothes, your books, your health, your business, everything! When you go out to preach the gospel you are not preaching a vague objective, a theory, philosophy, or human religion. You are actually teaching people how to tap endless resources!" (Cho 1979:186).
That notwithstanding, after hosting the "largest prayer meeting in history," in 1994, when the International Assemblies of God met in Cho's church for a 1,000,000 strong session of prayer and planing as to how the world might be won for Christ, Cho was named chairman of the International Assemblies of God Synan says that by the 1980's, with the permeation of the charismatic movement into traditional Korean Protestant and Catholic churches, pentecostalism had now entered the mainstream.
By 1990 it was being noted by researchers that five of the largest churches in the world were in Korea, and they were all classified as being "charismatic" to some extent. (Synan 1997).
By the end of the century, it was clear that South Korea was well on its way to becoming a Christian nation. By 1992 the percentage of Christians in the population of the nation stood at 40.7%. From small beginnings in the early years of the century, the Korean Pentecostals added their spiritual fervor and organizational skills to the massive growth of the church in the nation. By 1995 the Pentecostals had grown to be the third largest church in South Korea with almost 2,00,00 members. The record of Korean church growth was unparalleled in any other part of the globe. The growth from a tiny persecuted minority is a quantum leap that an only be explained in spiritual and supernatural terms. The pentecostals and charismatics, with their gifts and zeal have led the way in Korea as they have in many other parts of the world" (Cho, Vinson Synan, p.4) (Synan 1997)
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