Should I expose the Bible study group I attended on Reddit for awareness?

I’ve been attending what was presented to me as an independent Bible study for the past few months, and I’ve recently become seriously concerned about the group and its connections to Shincheonji.

I’m considering making a post sharing what I experienced — including photos of the class/materials, screenshots, lesson notes, the structure of the classes, and some of the things they asked us to do — mainly so other people can recognize the signs and make informed decisions for themselves.

I’m not trying to start a witch hunt or encourage harassment. I also don’t want to make accusations that I can’t substantiate.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have left Shincheonji or similar groups. What information would have helped you recognize what you were getting into earlier?

I’m trying to approach this responsibly rather than just posting out of anger.

Malaysian here. For the past few months, I had been attending what was presented to me as an independent Bible study. I joined because I genuinely wanted to learn more about the Bible. I was especially interested in understanding biblical parables and what I thought would simply be a deeper study of Scripture.

At the beginning, I had no reason to believe I was joining Shincheonji.

The classes gradually became more intensive. What started as roughly two classes a week eventually became three classes plus a revision session. There was a teacher and several assistants, and the lessons followed a structured curriculum. A significant amount of time was spent learning about parables, symbolism, prophecy and what the Bible supposedly meant beneath its surface-level interpretation.

At first, I didn't think much of it. Christians study parables all the time, and I assumed this was simply the particular approach of the Bible study.

But as the months went on, things began to feel increasingly unusual.

I started noticing the amount of structure surrounding the classes, the involvement of the assistants, the increasing commitment expected from students, and the emphasis on learning specific interpretations of Scripture. There were also concepts and terminology that I didn't fully understand at the time, including references to a “spring” and a “river.”

Then came the questions about personal information.

I was asked to provide a copy of my IC. That immediately made me uncomfortable. Before giving anyone an official identification document, I wanted to know whether it would simply be used for verification or whether a copy would be kept, who would have access to it, how long it would be stored, and when it would be deleted.

Those questions became even more important once I started investigating who was actually behind the Bible study.

Eventually, I discovered that the Bible study was affiliated with Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

That changed the way I understood everything I had experienced.

I began comparing what I had been taught with Shincheonji's own publicly available material. What stood out was the overlap in the teaching structure. Shincheonji itself openly advertises Bible courses on the meanings of parables, followed by prophecy and fulfillment and then Revelation. Its own statement of faith also identifies Lee Man-hee as the promised shepherd who received and proclaims the fulfilled reality of Revelation.

Suddenly, the emphasis on parables and deeper meanings wasn't just an isolated teaching style. It was part of a much larger theological system.

What also disturbed me was the fact that I had not initially understood that I was being introduced to Shincheonji.

This is particularly significant because independent reporting has documented former members describing recruitment into Bible studies where Shincheonji's identity was not disclosed at the beginning.

That made me question the entire experience.

If I had been told from the beginning:

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then I could have made an informed decision about whether I wanted to participate.

Instead, I believed I was attending an independent Bible study and only discovered the organisation's affiliation later.

That distinction matters to me.

I am not saying that every person I met was necessarily malicious, nor am I claiming that every teaching I received was automatically false simply because it came from Shincheonji. What I am saying is that I should have been given enough information to make an informed decision from the beginning.

I also don't think questioning this makes me closed-minded toward Christianity.

In fact, it is precisely because I take my faith seriously that I want to investigate what I am being taught rather than accepting something simply because it is presented as “deeper” or “more biblical.”

Looking back, the biggest lesson from this experience is that transparency matters.

A Bible study should not require me to discover its true affiliation through independent investigation. I should not have to wonder who the teachers really represent, why my personal information is being collected, or whether the curriculum comes from a particular religious organisation.

I entered the class wanting to understand the Bible.

I ended up having to investigate the organisation teaching me the Bible.

And that, more than anything, is what made me realise that I needed to step back and ask questions.