Eastern Lightning

{{cults}} {{christianity}}
'''Eastern Lightning''' (东方闪电) or the '''Church of Almighty God''' is a [[China|Chinese]] heterodox religious movement based on [[Christianity]] that holds that [[Jesus Christ]] has been reincarnated as a woman in China. While the group does not officially identify who this woman is, unofficial sources state she is Yang Xiangbing {{lived|1973}}. Unofficial sources say it was founded in 1989 by Zhao Weishan (赵维山) {{lived|1951}}, who currently resides in the [[United States]] where he continues to lead the church. The name Eastern Lightning is derived from {{bible|Matthew|24|27}}, a verse in the context of a passage that [[irony|decries hidden Christs in "secret chambers" as false]]. 
 
The sect has accused the Chinese government of ramping up a crackdown against them. In particular, Eastern Lightning claimed that the 2014 Zhaoyuan McDonalds incident, in which cultists purportedly from the Church of Almighty God murdered a woman for not giving them her phone number, was not conducted by official members of the sect, and was used by the government as a pretext to ratchet up persecution of both Eastern Lightning and religious movements in general. In turn, Eastern Lightning literature is heavily anti-CCP and associates the Chinese government with the Biblical [[Satan|devil]].

==Beliefs==
As the [[Second Coming]] of Jesus, Yang Xiangbing will guide mankind through the [[end times]]. Eastern Lightning preaches [[salvation]] through her third testament, ''The Word Appears in the Flesh''.<ref>[http://en.people.cn/n/2014/0603/c90882-8735801.html Inside China's 'Eastern Lightning' cult] ''Global Times'', June 03, 2014</ref> Eastern Lightning refers to the Chinese Communist Party as the "Great Red Dragon" of the [[Revelation|Book of Revelation]], and some members predicted that the world would end on [[List of predictions of the end of the world|December 21, 2012]].<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/17/world/la-fg-china-doomsday-arrests-20121218 China cracking down on doomsday group] Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2012]</ref> The leaders of the group, however, rejected that prediction.<ref name=censamm>{{cite web |url=https://censamm.org/resources/profiles/church-of-almighty-god |title=Church of Almighty God |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=CenSAMM |access-date=July 24, 2018 |quote=}}</ref>

The group's [[theology]] divides time into three ages: that of the law (the [[Old Testament]]), that of grace (the [[New Testament]]), and that of Kingdom (the current age).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/gospel/three-stages-of-work-1/ |title=Knowing the purpose of the three stages of work of God’s management of mankind |last= |first= |date=June 13, 2017 |website= |publisher=The Church of Almighty God |access-date=July 24, 2018 |quote=}}</ref> It teaches that the "Age of Grace" has been superseded by the "Age of Kingdom", during which humans will not only be forgiven of their sins, but also be cleansed of their sinful nature.<ref name=OnlyHeWho>{{cite web |url=https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/recital-kingdom-selection-000/# |title=Only He Who Experiences the Work of God Truly Believes in God |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref> There is also a separate "Age of the Millennial Kingdom", which is supposed to occur after [[God]]'s work in China has ended; during that age, the [[apocalyptic]] events in the [[Book of Revelation]] are to occur.<ref name=censamm/>

The sect essentially excludes mainstream Christians who reject the group from [[salvation]], stating that those who hold on to conventional Christian beliefs are "guilty of opposing God" and do not truly believe in Him.<ref name=OnlyHeWho/>

The group rejects the [[Biblical inerrancy|inerrancy]] of some parts of the Bible, stating that books like Paul's epistles are only his personal opinion, and explicitly denies the notion that the [[Bible]] provides a sufficient understanding of God, condemning such views as [[Bibliolatry]] that restricts God via the [[Bible]].<ref name=fatherpastor>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zEGM3nt0n8|title="My Father, the Pastor" A Truth Debate on the Bible (English Dubbed)"|date=July 3, 2018|website=YouTube}}</ref> Videos on the group's channel render quotations of [[Jesus]] in yellow, similar to [[Red Letter Christians]], but also render the group's own ''The Word Appears in the Flesh'' in yellow captions to emphasize their belief that the piece of literature is from God rather than a [[cult]] leader. The group's view of the Bible as limited and fallible is, however, likely not rooted in [[rational]] [[skepticism]] of [[religious]] [[dogma]] and should not be confounded with efforts by [[Progressive Christianity|progressive Christians]] to re-interpret the Bible to suit modern [[science]] and values. Rather, this is likely intended to prop up the group's theology despite its contradictions with the Bible. For example, the name of the group is, ironically, [[quote mining|quote mined]] right out of a passage about false [[prophets]] and teachers in {{bible|Matthew|24|22}} that appears to imply that groups like it are following false messiahs.

Despite believing that Christians who reject them in favour of mainstream beliefs are going to [[Hell]] forever, videos on the sect's channel frequently identify the group's members as simply "Christians" or "people who believe in God". The group also [[Creationism|denies]] [[evolution]].

===Salvation===

Eastern Lightning distinguishes "being saved" from "full salvation". It teaches that [[sola fide|faith alone]] does not permit a person to go to Heaven: Jesus's sacrifice has brought atonement for sins, but it does not cleanse believers of their "corrupt disposition". As a result, believers are still unclean and will go to Hell unless they accept the cleansing of the Word of Almighty God, which renders them perfect.<ref>https://www.findshepherd.com/sins-forgiven.html</ref><ref>https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/Lord-s-redemption-and-God-s-judgment/all-is-achieved-by-the-word-of-god.html</ref>

===Divine punishment of non-believers===

The sect believes that Christians who reject Almighty God are not only bound to go to hell, but will also be punished by God in this life with bad luck, disease, and death. The sect has a long list of examples of alleged incidents in which Protestants and Catholics who rejected Almighty God died or fell heavily sick called ''Classical Examples of Punishment of Christians and Catholics for Resisting Almighty God''. Conveniently, the examples only provide last names (identical last names are common in China) and are not independently verifiable.

Some of the examples given by the sect make Christians who reject "Almighty God" look villainously and comically evil. For instance, Example 184 of the sect's list of punishment incidents that have occurred in the province of Henan features a Christian woman exclaiming "I will not accept it even if it is true."<ref>[https://www.kingdomsalvation.org/chengfa-002.html 河南省基督教天主教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型事例], example 184</ref> This makes the sect's claims look like propaganda. This is contrary to verifiable examples of Christians opposing Eastern Lightning, who generally make arguments based on scripture to uphold their genuinely-held belief that Eastern Lightning is false.

The sect seems to hold these incidents of "divine punishment" up as evidence of its truth. For example, in example 13 from Henan, in which an anonymous man surnamed Wang is punished by a stroke after testing God by exclaiming "this teaching is not true; if it is true, then let me get punished within one year," the author writes rhetorically "now that his oath has been fulfilled, is this teaching true or not?"<ref>[https://www.kingdomsalvation.org/chengfa-002.html 河南省基督教天主教各宗各派抵挡全能神受惩罚的典型事例], example 13</ref> This is, of course, contrary to Jesus's teachings, which state that miracles and signs alone do not constitute proof that someone is a true teacher:

{{quote|For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.|{{Bible|Matthew|24|24}}}}

Oddly, this volume, as of May 2019, isn't visible on the sect's website's front page<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190516202722/https://www.kingdomsalvation.org/ Eastern Lightning Chinese page], archived 16 May 2019</ref> and isn't emphasized in the sect's media.

====Ecumenism====

Despite this hardline attitude that non-believing Christians will be divinely punished, the sect seems to be very ecumenical towards non-Eastern Lightning Christians who support them. For example, the sect prominently features sympathetic interviews from Massimo Introvigne, a [[Catholic]] researcher of "new religious movements".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohqjW6fxlSw Massimo Introvigne: The Church of Almighty God Is a Typical Victim of Black Propaganda and Fake News]</ref> It also invited sympathetic [[Protestant]] pastor Christian Tanon and priest Adou Benoît to its New Year's celebration in France.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-fveEh4gGg The Church of Almighty God Christians Ring in the New Year With French Friends]</ref>

All three people have heard of Eastern Lightning's gospel and have rejected it. Introvigne should theoretically be even more culpable than the other two, for he, as a researcher, has looked deeply into Eastern Lightning theology. Yet there is no evidence any of these men has been "divinely punished". It's odd that this "divine punishment" fails to materialize when the people are verifiable individuals.

A case can certainly be made that it is good for Christians to support Eastern Lightning asylum seekers, even if they disagree with their theology. Many would agree that in light of the human rights situation in China, what Introvigne, Tanon, and Fr. Benoît are doing to help Eastern Lightning members is venerable. However, the more deeply people like Introvigne study Eastern Lightning theology and hang around with Eastern Lightning without actually accepting its teachings, the less plausible those teachings seem. Eastern Lightning is essentially shooting itself in the foot by bringing in Introvigne, who, despite studying the movement deeply, has neither been moved by its theology nor been divinely punished by "Almighty God".

===Homosexuality===
The church believes that homosexuals are demon-possessed.<ref>https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/gospel/what-is-possession-by-demons/</ref> However, it also believes that the second-coming Christ is female. Since New Jerusalem, which Christ marries, is the "bride" of Christ and the church is betrothed to Christ the husband ({{bible|2 Corinthians|11|2-4}}), either Eastern Lightning's Christ is demon-possessed and therefore not God, or she will turn back to a man before she marries the church. One wonders if Eastern Lightning believes that homosexuality is okay as long as it is only a betrothal and not a sealed marriage.

===Interpretation of Matthew 24===
The group interprets {{bible|Matthew|24|22}} as meaning that the Christ will return in the East and his faith will spread to the West. This poses several problems when interpreted in context.

A summary of Matthew 24:4 to Matthew 24:35, the relevant passage, is provided below using quotes from the public domain World English Bible. Commentary is provided in parallel.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Stage !! Events !! Commentary
|-
| Before Christ's visible coming || 
1. Before Christ comes, there shall be disasters, wars, and false prophets. There will be persecution of Christians. ({{bible|Matthew|24|4-8}}) These are just "birth pains" and the end has not come yet.

2. There shall be people falsely claiming to be Christ. Their followers will claim that Christ is in a secret room or in the desert.

{{quote|If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.|Matthew 24:26}}

3. These people will be able to produce miracles and signs. Thus, miracles and signs alone do not prove that a claimant to the second coming is truly Christ. Furthermore, there is no burden on Christians to investigate these claims.

{{quote|“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it. For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.|Matthew 24:23-24}}

4. The actual coming of Christ will be like how lightning that hits the east will naturally be visible in the west or how when there is a carcass the vultures will naturally gather. These verses clearly contrast against Matthew 24:26. The difference is that of obvious and visible versus hidden. Just as lightning will be seen even if not near, and vultures will gather without needing to be told, Christians do not need somebody to approach them and tell them that Christ has come. The most plausible interpretation, given the context, is that the lightning and vultures are metaphors for the same idea of openness and obviousness.

{{quote|For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.|Matthew 24:27-28}}
 || Eastern Lightning does not disclose who the returned Christ is or where she is. This is very similar to a Christ in a secret room. In all likelihood, the group's leaders are in hiding in secret rooms or overseas due to the group being illegal.

Eastern Lightning claims that Christians and pastors who rejected them have suffered bad luck and strange deaths in a series of anonymous stories. (Oddly enough, actually named and identifiable Christian leaders do not seem to suffer this fate. House church pastor Samuel Lamb has preached against the sect since at least 1992<ref>https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/articles/combating-the-cult-almighty-god-church</ref> and did not pass away until 2013 at the ripe old age of 88.<ref>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2013/08/chinese-house-church-leader-samuel-lamb-dies/</ref> Pope Francis is similarly still alive and well.) Assuming that the stories are true and not products of exaggeration, coincidence, or foul play, the Bible teaches that God is not the only one able to produce such signs.

There is no valid contrast between Matthew 24:27-28 and Matthew 24:26 if Matthew 24:27 is interpreted as meaning that Christ will come from the Eastern direction. There can be deserts in the East and there can be inner rooms in the East. The only valid contrast is that of unmissable versus hidden.
|-
| After Christ's visible coming || After the period of "oppression", referring to the period when Christians are oppressed and false prophets run rampant, Jesus comes unmistakably and openly, with his sign appearing in the sky. The Son of Man, not the Daughter of Man, comes in glory on clouds.

{{quote|But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.|Matthew 24:29-30}}

"Those days" refers to the aforementioned time period when the end has not yet come. Given its placement right after the metaphors that the Son of Man's coming, future tense, will be like vultures flocking to a carcass or lightning spreading across the sky, it can be inferred that during "those days", the Son of Man has not yet come back.

|| The Eastern Lightning Church argues that we must not limit God using the Bible. They argue that just because the final second coming of Christ is obvious does not mean Christ cannot come in hidden prior to the obvious second coming. In other words, just because the Bible doesn't say it doesn't mean God will not do it. They argue that Christians should examine the "evidence" for their so-called Almighty God being Christ.

The problem with this claim is twofold.

Firstly, it flies in the face of Matthew 24:23. If Jesus tells Christians they can safely ignore those who claim to have the Christ, and then comes back secretly anyway, and everybody who rejects this secret Christ is going to hell, then he has given his followers a command that he does not want them to follow. If this were true, then a God who wishes for all to be saved has now hinged his church's salvation on an obscure cult in China, thereby causing the fires of hell to prevail against it. (Which is difficult to reconcile with {{Bible|Matthew|16|17-19}}.)

Secondly, the problem with the secret coming is not just that it adds to the Bible. Many Christians accept that the Bible is not the be-all and end-all of truth, with Catholics, for instance, accepting the Church's teachings as sacred traditions. The problem is that it also ''contradicts'' the narrative of the secret coming being false and the open coming being true that is created by the lightning and vulture metaphors.

|}

==Activities==
===Alleged unethical methods of evangelism===
The group has been accused of spreading their faith using unethical means to "steal sheep" (steal believers) from underground and house churches. ''Due to the underground nature of much of Chinese Christianity, and the involvement of the Chinese government and state-controlled media, many of these claims cannot be independently verified.
''
Allegedly, the sect infiltrates and spies on churches secretly pretending to be ordinary believers. They may use enticements such as gifts to encourage others to join them, and engages in violence.<ref>https://www.equip.org/article/deceived-by-the-lightning/</ref> The group is also accused of using sex to lure believers into their group.<ref>http://www.outwardon.com/article/eastern-lightning-chinas-doomsday-cult/</ref>

Allegations of the use of direct violent coercion are hard to verify. It is undeniably true, however, that the Eastern Lightning church threatens that those who reject it will be punished by God with strange diseases and death.<ref>https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/books/typical-cases-of-punishment-for-resisting-almighty-god/</ref>

===Alleged violent acts===
Like other Chinese [[New Age]] groups such as [[Falun Gong]], the Chinese government considers Eastern Lightning to be a cult and has outlawed the group.

However, unlike Falun Gong, Eastern Lightning has been accused of explicitly engaging in acts of violence. For instance, in 2002 Eastern Lightning allegedly kidnapped 34 members of a Chinese house church network, the China Gospel Fellowship, for two months by pretending to be a Christian training center.<ref>[http://www.equip.org/articles/deceived-by-the-lightning/ Deceived by the Lightning] Christian Research Institute, 2005</ref><ref>[https://www.gotquestions.org/Church-of-Almighty-God.html What is the Church of Almighty God?] Got Questions</ref> According to a victim of the kidnapping, the cultists initially claimed to be theologians from [[Singapore]] but later revealed they were actually members of Eastern Lightning; after the victim rebuked them for [[heresy]] (cult members had allegedly beaten four Christians in his hometown and left them disfigured), he was called a "[[Pharisee]]" and moved to a locked room in a residence where he was subjected to verbal abuse. The victim was left pale and emaciated.<ref>[http://www.chinaforjesus.com/cgf/CGF_shen_july_2002_ch.htm Testimony of "Younger Shen" from China Gospel Fellowship Of His Experience in Confinement (Chinese)] China For Jesus</ref>

In a more widely publicized event in 2014, cultists identifying as believers in "Almighty God" beat a woman to death at a local [[McDonald's]] for simply refusing to give them her phone number.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-28641008 The Chinese cult that kills 'demons'] ''BBC News'', 13 August 2014]</ref> The sect distanced itself from the murderers, noting that the suspects testified that they had never come into contact with the church; the sect further accused the [[Communist]] Party of [[False flag operation|being behind the attack]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHFGlPQXzCM|title="The Truth Exposed Behind the May 28 Zhaoyuan Case"|date=January 29, 2018}}</ref> A close look at the testimony shows that the murderers may have read some of the literature produced by the sect but did not consider the sect to be the true representatives of "Almighty God" ([[Life of Brian|Splitters!]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sohu.com/20140822/n403692654.shtml|title="山东招远血案被告自白：我就是神"|date=August 22, 2014}}</ref>

===Online Presence===
The Eastern Lightning church has a sophisticated and high-budget online presence that reaches relatively few subscribers. Their slickly-produced videos demonstrate a good understanding of Mainland Chinese media and artistic conventions. They have produced crosstalks (a type of Chinese comedy often involving two speakers known in Mandarin as 相声 xiàngshēng) and skits with a level of polish nearly comparable to those produced by Chinese state media for their New Years' Galas. They output hour-long full-HD movies condemning mainstream Christianity and the Chinese regime. Said movies were likely filmed outside of China; there appears to be extensive use of digital compositing and props.

Despite believing that mainstream Christianity is false, the group's videos are often generically labelled as "Christian movie", "Christian crosstalk", "Christian comedy skit", or variations thereof.

The films and comedy sketches produced mimic the format of Chinese popular culture and are clearly geared at a Mainland Chinese audience. Many videos on foreign language YouTube channels are translations of such works.

The group also produces one-off songs in other languages. These songs are often accompanied by high-budget music videos that create the impression that the sect is gaining many adherents abroad, which coheres perfectly with the sect's claim that Almighty God is finishing His work in China and expanding His work to the rest of the world.

Unlike sects like [[Mormonism]], there is (as of July 2019) no significant online presence of independent websites or organizations posting independent apologetics works for the church. There is also no information online regarding physical locations for the church, and no way to buy physical copies of the group's literature online. (Presumably, you would have to convert and join them to get a copy of their books.) This is understandable since the group may be under persecution from the Chinese regime even outside of the country, but this secrecy should also raise questions as to the group's actions.

====Sneaky, superficially independent websites with unclear relation with the sect====
There are several superficially independent websites, sometimes simply identifying as Christian websites, that promote Eastern Lightning theology. They syndicate Eastern Lightning videos and contain articles that cite Eastern Lightning scriptures, but do not clearly describe the nature of their relationship with the Church of Almighty God. While some of these websites may (inconsistently) speak of the second coming in the future tense, the information they give regarding the second coming (e.g. that it will be hidden) lay the groundwork for Eastern Lightning arguments, and their articles not-so-subtly quote the Church's books. These websites have very similar art styles and all of them have a live chat feature similar to the sect's official website. The official website does not list them in its list of official sites.<ref>https://en.easternlightning.org/solemn-declaration.html</ref> Nonetheless, these websites appear to be, shall we say, [[sockpuppet|not all that forthcoming about their purpose]].

These websites include, as of July 2019:
=====English=====
* [https://www.rainbowtoken.com/ Grow in Christ], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2014-12-01
* [https://www.findshepherd.com/ Find the Shepherd], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2014-12-01
* [https://www.cagnz.org/ Our Daily Devotionals], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2018-04-05 (Note: Although CAG in "Cagnz" may stand for "Church of Almighty God", the webpage itself does not directly identify as an Eastern Lightning website.)
* [https://www.hearthymn.com/ Walk in the Light], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2014-12-01
* [https://www.testifygod.org/ Testify God], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2018-05-16

=====French=====
* [https://www.lesalut.org/ Bible en Ligne/Le Salut (Online Bible/Salvation)], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2018-05-16
* [https://www.luciolededieu.org l'Évangile du Royaume/Luciole de Dieu (Gospel of the Kingdom/Firefly of God], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2018-06-06

Due to the relatively smaller set of religious websites on the French web compared to on the English web, websites promoting Eastern Lightning theology can, for some search queries, outrank mainstream websites like [[Got Questions]] (Protestant) and La Croix (Catholic). (As of September 2019; tested using a TOR connection with the query "une fois sauvé toujours sauvé" (once saved always saved).)

=====Japanese=====
* [https://www.bible-jp.org/ 聖書の部屋 (Room of the Bible)], Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2017-05-27

Of note is that NameSilo LLC is also the registrar for [https://en.msa-it.org/ Stella del Mattino] ("the Morning Star"), a "non-profit, non-party and non-governmental organization" seeking to "defend and advance human rights" affiliated with the Church.<ref>https://en.msa-it.org/about-us/</ref> However, the Church's main websites are registered with Google as the registrar.

=====Chinese=====
* [https://www.pursuestar.com/ 追逐晨星/Pursue Star](Chase the Morning Star), Domain registrar NameSilo LLC, registered 2014-10-24

=====Slip-ups=====
The superficial independence of these websites is betrayed by seeming slip-ups in their privacy policies. In a copy of the privacy policy of the French website lesalut.org, which simply identifies as a Bible website, archived as of 2 August 2019, the organization is identified inconsistently as "Stella del Mattino" (which is supposed to be the ''human rights organization'') and "l’Église du {{sic}} Dieu Tout-Puissant" (the Church of the {{sic}} Almighty God).<ref>[http://archive.is/DRbAL Privacy Policy of lesalut.org], Archived in August 2019</ref>

The English websites's privacy policies instead identify their proprietors as various, differently-named churches in the United States:
* rainbowtoken.com identifies itself as a website of The Church of the Dawn's Light<ref>[http://archive.is/3kgJo Privacy Policy of rainbowtoken.com], Archived in August 2019</ref>
* findshepherd.com identifies itself as a website of The Church Before the Seat of Christ<ref>[http://archive.is/xSa7R Privacy Policy of findshepherd.com], Archived in August 2019</ref>
* cagnz.org identifies itself as a website of The Church of New Hymn<ref>[http://archive.is/ZJjme Privacy Policy of cagnz.org], Archived in August 2019</ref>
* hearthymn.com identifies itself as a website of the Church of Bright Light<ref>[http://archive.is/5Zhqo Privacy Policy of hearthymn.com], Archived in August 2019</ref>
* testifygod.org identifies itself as a website of The Church of Dawn’s Light<ref>[http://archive.is/Lzf4v Privacy Policy of testifygod.org], Archived in August 2019</ref>

===Translation===
The sect's media is available in numerous languages. Its full-length movies frequently feature a pre-roll title stating that the movie has been translated into the target language from Chinese by professional translators.

Does this mean that there are many believers of Eastern Lightning all around the world who volunteer to translate for them? Clearly there must be some believers outside of China (or else they wouldn't be wasting money on producing media in many languages), but there is likely not enough for all the translation to be done in-house. Instead, the sect seems to depend on external translators.

The website hearthymn.com, apparently affiliated with the sect, links to a Bible app produced by the "Christian Holy City Church" in Flushing, New York called "Bible Reading Made Easy", whose devotionals feature Eastern Lightning content.<ref>https://www.hearthymn.com/easy-bible-topic</ref> The Christian Holy City Church, whose podium is backed by a beige brick wall and flanked by two LCD television sets, clearly is the same church as the one featured in the sect's Chinese skit "qián chē zhī jian".<ref>Compare the cover photo on the [http://archive.is/MmBiO official website] with the background of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVsXcoLPIsY the skit]</ref> It seems that the sect conducts translation activities through the Christian Holy City Church.

The Christian Holy City Church seems to solicit freelance translators. A freelance translator called Molly Lim complained about poor pay and deceptive employment practices on Facebook,<ref>https://www.facebook.com/translationethics/posts/id-like-to-bring-the-attention-of-chinese-to-english-translators-to-christian-ho/1575429345805972/</ref> which the Church denies in its "solemn declaration".<ref>https://en.hcchristianchurch.org/solemn-declaration</ref> While it is impossible to verify whether these accusations of unethical behaviour are true (it is possible that they are not, since many translators clearly continue to work for the Church), this does show that the church, to some extent, relies on translators from outside its organization.

The Christian Holy City Church also receives professional translation services from the company Summa Linguae.<ref>https://summalinguae.com/invest/en/12-2018-conclusion-of-a-significant-contract-between-the-issuer-and-christian-holy-city-church-based-in-new-york-usa/</ref>

===Infiltration of Christian churches===

House Church Christians allege that, in order to bring Christian believers into its heterodox fold, Eastern Lightning has resorted to infiltrating churches in order to sneakily teach heretical views.

An alleged internal document leaked from Eastern Lightning, entitled the ''Detailed instructions on staking out and paving roads'', or in Chinese the《摸底铺路细则》, is distributed by Christians critical of the sect as evidence that the sect uses deception to win converts. The handbook describes two activities: "staking out" (摸底), which means covertly infiltrating a church to gain information about it and build connections with potential converts, and "paving roads" (铺路), which means secretly influencing prospective converts so that they will be disposed to accepting the doctrines of Eastern Lightning. The following are a few translated excerpts from the document.

{{sbs|title=1|Chinese text|Translation}}
{{sbs|摸底就是借用各种关系，各种方式打入各派教会内部，与人拉好关系，获得他们的信任好感，以便了解他们内部的实情，为以后引见别人或见证工作打好基础的一项工作，叫摸底。摸底绝不是见证工作，但有时可以给铺一铺路。 

　　※ 摸底铺路当报的态度： 

　　人的存心当摆正，不要存着拿别人操练的心，总要存得人的心，为神拯救人的心，把自己的所有精力用在工作上，能忍辱负重，舍己为人，能像摩西一样有一个为父的心，有一颗甘心为神花费的心。<ref name=MDPL1>{{cite web|title=第一部分：摸底问题细则|url=http://www.ccccn.org/book/html/140/7586.html}}</ref>|Staking out is the work of using a variety of relationships and methods to get into the inner circle of a church of any denomination, build relationships with people, and obtain their trust and affection in order to understand their inner circle's actual situation, thereby securing a foundation for introducing others [to the gospel] or doing the work of witnessing in the future. Staking out is not the work of witnessing, but it can sometimes help pave roads [for it].

The proper attitude to have when staking out and paving roads:

Your heart should be in the right place. You should not seek to use others as practice; you should desire to win people over and save people for God. You need to put all your energy into this work; you need to be able to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, and willing to sacrifice yourself for others. You need to have a fatherly heart like Moses, a heart that is eager to expend for the sake of God.}}
{{sbs|1、由于现在的各派最反对撒谎，所以咱们说话时务必别让他们看出咱们在撒谎。即使有时为了工作需要不说实话。就如：地址、姓名、年龄、家庭情况、教会情况等等，也要事先编一地区并互相有联系，这时的地址、姓名，就务必得报一样，报地址时最好说自己特别熟悉，并且没有轰动过的地方，对于知道底细的人不能不说实话。<ref name=MDPL1/>|1. Because the various sects today ferociously oppose lying, we must not let them see that we are lying when we speak. If for our work we need to not speak the truth, such as about our address, name, age, family situation, and church, we must still first make up a location and [make the pieces of information] coherent with eachother; in this situation, we must declare our [false] addresses and names consistently. When indicating your address, it is best to choose a location that you know very well and have never caused a disturbance in, and you have no choice but to tell the truth to those who know the details about you.}}

Forum posts from Eastern Lightning members appear to corroborate the claim made by house church Christians that Eastern Lightning is engaging in infiltration.

{{sbs|title=1|Chinese text|Translation}}
{{sbs|传福音过程中遇到一个问题：

　　福音对象是一个家庭教会讲道的，受牧师长老迷惑，对其它派别的人不接触、道不听，对“东方闪电”更是执守“不听、不看、不考察”。现在我以没信过神的身份进入这个教会有一段时间了，己取得了他们的信任。这个福音对象摸底通过，我和她的关系处得也可以了，对我以从网上名义找的一些资料她能看，前几天接触时她对牧师讲的“三位一体”方面的谬论——“圣灵不是耶稣”有一点分辨，觉得牧师讲的不对，但又说不明白不对在哪。针对这个现状，我想在正式给她看道成肉身方面真理之前，先以隐秘浇灌的方式给她交通“三位一体”方面的真理，让她知道他们教会以外有更高的道，能为下一步顺利的听“道成肉身”方面的真理做好铺垫。根据她的情况，在正式见证道成肉身之前我觉得不该露这步工作。

　　现在的问题是：1.我这样的思路合不合适；2.如果给她浇灌“三位一体”方面的真理涉及很多神话，在给她交通的时候怎么表达合适？在《国度福音见证问答》里面都是以类似“全能神说……”这样的方式引用神话。我怕跟她以这样的方式引用神话提前把这步工作露了；不用“全能神说……”又怕这不是在见证神，所以现在不知该怎么引用神话合适，隐秘浇灌时引用神话的原则是什么？这方面想请弟兄姊妹帮助交通一下，谢谢！<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.is/20191218200808/https://forums.godfootsteps.org/topic/51847-%E6%80%A5%EF%BC%81%E4%BC%A0%E7%A6%8F%E9%9F%B3%E8%BF%87%E7%A8%8B%E4%B8%AD%E7%9A%84%E9%9A%BE%E5%A4%84%EF%BC%8C%E8%AF%B7%E5%BC%9F%E5%85%84%E5%A7%8A%E5%A6%B9%E5%B8%AE%E5%8A%A9%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%8B/|title=急！传福音过程中的难处，请弟兄姊妹帮助分析一下|date=12 May 2017|last=est 太卑鄙@}}</ref>|
While spreading the gospel, I encountered a problem:

The gospel target (person chosen as a target for spreading the Eastern Lighting gospel) is a preacher in a house church; due to the trickery of the pastors and elders, she does not associate with people of other denominations and does not listen to their preaching, and even more does she hold to [a policy of] "don't see, don't look, don't investigate" towards "Eastern Lightning". I have been in the church under the identity of someone who has not accepted [Almighty God] for a while now, and I have already won their trust. This gospel target has [passed through the staking-out process], and my relationship with her is also quite good. So she is willing to look at materials that I tell her I found on the web, and when I made contact with her the last few days, she had developed a bit of discernment towards the fallacies preached by the pastor about the Trinity—[such as the pastor's claim] that the Holy Spirit is not Jesus—and she now thinks the pastor is preaching wrongly but also says she doesn't know where exactly his mistake lies. In response to this situation, I'd like to first use secret watering to fellowship the truth about the Trinity with her before I officially show her the truth about the incarnation, so that she knows that there is a higher preaching outside of their church, thereby building up a foundation for her to successfully hear the truth about the incarnation in the next step. In accordance with her situation, I feel that I should not reveal [my belief about God's new work] prior to officially testifying about the incarnation.

The questions that I have now are: 1. Is my thought process appropriate? 2. If when I water her with the truth about the trinity I have to quote many words [of Almighty God], what would be the suitable way of expressing them when fellowshipping with her? In ''Questions and Answers for Witnessing to the Gospel of the Kingdom'', they always quote the words of God using "Almighty God says..." and so on. I'm afraid of revealing [God's new work] too early by quoting the words of God in this way with her; but I'm also afraid that I would not be bearing witness of God if I did not use "Almighty God says...", so now I am not sure how best to quote the words of God. What are the principles for quoting from the words of God when engaging in secret watering? I am asking my brothers and sisters to please help fellowship their thoughts on this matter. Thank you!
}}

==Persecution==
Like other religious groups, Eastern Lightning's members have been persecuted in China. The group is designated as illegal and suffers mass arrests by the Communist government.<ref>https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/10/06/CHN104304.E.pdf</ref> The Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)'s publication ''Bitter Winter'' reports that members have died after torture in police custody and been intimidated by the authorities into spying for them.<ref>https://bitterwinter.org/church-of-almighty-god-member-pressured-to-spy-on-co-believers/</ref><ref>https://bitterwinter.org/church-of-almighty-god-believer-dies-in-police-custody/</ref>

While the group sometimes holds this up as evidence of its truth, persecution does not prove truth (see [[Galileo gambit]]). Clearly, not all persecuted religions can be true at the same time. Other religious organizations like the [[Falun Gong]] have also been suppressed in China, but Falun Gong and Eastern Lightning cannot be true at the same time, since Falun Gong is rooted in Buddhism while Eastern Lightning is rooted in Western Christianity. Historically, religions have begun as heterodox movements and therefore were initially persecuted; this is true of [[Mormonism]], [[Islam]], and [[Bahá'í]].

CCP apologists claim that both [[Falun Gong]] and [[Eastern Lightning]] are [[pseudoscientific]] and [[savage]] cults; therefore their genocide and persecution is justified. However, this is the same propaganda used to justify the persecution of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] during the [[Holocaust]].

===Chinese propaganda against the sect===

Defenders of the sect argued that some accusations against the sect do not hold water. According to CESNUR, the Zhaoyuan McDonald murders of 2014 are frequently blamed on the sect, even though the murderers confessed that they were not connected to the sect.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Church of Almighty God / Eastern Lightning: 10 False Myths |url=https://bitterwinter.org/the-church-of-almighty-god-eastern-lightning-10-false-myths/#myth-1 |first=Massimo |last=Introvigne |access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref> In this case, CESNUR claimed that Western media outlets bought into the Chinese government's propaganda uncritically, and falsely reported that the Church of Almighty God was involved. However, according to scholar Emily Dunn, the culprits of the murder were once members of the official Eastern Lightning, but had since left the church at the time of the murders.<ref>Dunn, Emily (2015). ''Lightning from the East: Heterodoxy and Christianity in Contemporary China''. Leiden: Brill, p. 204. {{Isbn|978-90-04-29724-1}}.</ref>

CESNUR's publication ''Bitter Winter'' reports that individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party have held false demonstrations against Eastern Lightning in Seoul. These false demonstrations consist of "family search parties" that, though ostensibly intended to locate runaway cultists, do not actually intend to meet with Eastern Lightning family members. Some Eastern Lightning members went to the airport to meet their relatives in the "search parties", but their relatives were not permitted to see them.<ref>{{cite web|title=False Demonstrations in Seoul: Cui Bono? |url=https://bitterwinter.org/false-demonstrations-in-seoul-cui-bono/ |first=Massimo |last=Introvigne |access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref> A Korean anti-cult website criticized CESNUR for ignoring the threats that cults pose in China and Korea.

Nevertheless, CESNUR itself has received criticism for its sympathetic coverage of Eastern Lightning, with critics noting that it falsely claimed that Chinese police are instituting an arrest quota for Chinese Christians, citing a cropped document purportedly from Chinese officials.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/chinasource-blog-posts/sorting-rumor-from-fact|title=Sorting Rumor from Fact? Look for the Red Chop |last=Pittman |first=Joann |date=28 December 2018 |website=Chinasource|access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref> CESNUR has previously defended controversial sects such as [[Aum Shinrikyo]], [[Unification Church]], and [[Church of Scientology]], and has been described by anti-cult activists of whitewashing such groups.<ref>[https://www.humanite.fr/node/248466 Liaisons Dangereuses Des Universités Lyonnaises] , L'Humanité, June 27, 2001 by Serge Garde</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0004/article/view/3742/3559 |title=The French and German versus American debate over 'new religions', Scientology and human rights |first=Stephen A. |last=Kent |journal=[[Marburg Journal of Religion]] |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=January 2001 |publisher=[[University of Marburg]] |page=15 |doi=10.17192/mjr.2001.6.3742}}</ref>

==Comparison to Evangelical Christianity==

Some comparisons between Eastern Lightning and Evangelical Christianity can be drawn.

Firstly, the sect ferociously opposes evolution, homosexuality, and communism, and features this opposition prominently in its media. (Interestingly, possibly due to God's gender change in Eastern Lightning theology, being [[transgender]] is not mentioned anywhere on their website as of September 4, 2019.) This may help play to the sympathies of the American religious right. This is in line with other organizations linked to religious or spiritual movements incompatible with mainstream Christian orthodoxy like the [[Unification Church]]'s ''[[Washington Times]]'' and [[Falun Gong]]-linked ''[[Epoch Times]]'' who, thanks to taking the [[religious right]]'s side in the culture war, gain praise from the religious right.

Secondly, the sect's media presence parallels that of Evangelical Christianity. Many comparisons can be drawn between [[Jack Chick]]'s comics and the sect's comedic skits and Chinese crosstalks. In both cases, inspiration is drawn from Communist Chinese propaganda, which uses media as a tool of control and thought-distortion. In the former case, Chick was inspired by Chinese comic books used to win people over to communism.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080218025350/http://www.chick.com/information/authors/chick.asp The Biography of Jack Chick], retrieved 18 February 2008</ref> In the latter case, the comedic skits and crosstalks are in the same style as those seen on Chinese state media's New Year's Gala. In both cases, the choice of using a fictional narrative rather than non-fiction tracts and articles allows the religious apologist to build up a caricatured strawman who "resists God" or "hinders others' path to God" so that they can destroy his arguments with ease and emotional power. The sect also produces music videos in the style of Christian Contemporary music similar to those produced by hipster Evangelical churches like [[Hillsong|Hillsong,]] so much so that many of the songs on the website of a local church seemingly affiliated with Eastern Lightning are not EL originals but Hillsong songs.<ref>https://en.hcchristianchurch.org/category/praise-songs</ref>

Thirdly, the sect's way of positioning itself in its rhetoric parallels that of Evangelical Christianity. Just as Evangelicals position themselves against Catholics by presenting their religion as "a personal relationship with Jesus and not a religion", Eastern Lightning uses the rhetoric of "[casting] off the bonds of religious ritual".<ref name=fatherpastor/>

Fourthly, the sect's alleged infiltration of Christian churches (as well as its use of the umbrella of Christianity despite being basically a different religion altogether) parallels the tactics used by some seedy segments of Evangelical Christianity to convert Jews. Just as some underground Christian churches allegedly suddenly discover that their "new convert" is a secret Eastern Lightning believer,<ref>https://www.equip.org/article/deceived-by-the-lightning/</ref> "Messianic Jews" have sometimes been deceptive when ministering to Jewish communities, such as by making their places of worship look like synagogues and even pretending to be Orthodox Jews.<ref>https://www.thejc.com/news/us-news/christian-missionary-couple-who-infiltrated-chicago-s-chassidic-community-is-unmasked-1.484669</ref><ref>https://www.jweekly.com/1996/08/02/messianics-covertly-invading-jewish-life/</ref>

==External links==
*[https://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/ Eastern Lightning's current website]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p024bsj4 Chasing China's Doomsday Cult], BBC World Service

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Cults]]
[[Category:Eastern religions]]
[[Category:China]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Christianity, Cults, Eastern religions, China, Living people