InterCP

Overview

InterCP is a mission organization whose principal work is overseas missions, particularly sending missionaries to regions where the gospel has not been widely proclaimed. Its director is Paul Choi (Choi Ba-ul). It is regarded as one of the largest mission organizations in South Korea and is also known by the name of the facility it operates, the BTJ Nations Center. Since 2011, several denominations have investigated InterCP's teachings and activities and passed resolutions urging members to refrain from participating or prohibiting interaction with it. InterCP has responded that it accepted the criticisms and made corrections, and it has requested that these resolutions be lifted.

Principal Claims and Doctrines

The denominational reports raised the following concerns:

• Dispensationalist eschatology: Critics contend that, following dispensationalism, which divides history into several distinct eras, InterCP places strong emphasis on the urgency of an imminent end.
• The Back to Jerusalem movement: This is known as a mission movement holding that the last days will be fulfilled when the gospel, having begun in Jerusalem, circles the globe and returns to Jerusalem.
• Dualistic worldview and understanding of civilization: Critics contend that InterCP divides the world strictly into good and evil and that its way of interpreting human civilization is problematic.
• Connections to the New Apostolic movement and spiritual mapping: Spiritual mapping is the concept of identifying the evil spirits that rule a given region and confronting them through prayer. A study by the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) concluded that InterCP still retains the foundations of the New Apostolic movement and of the spiritual mapping promoted by the American prayer organization IHOP.
• Connections to Berea: It has been noted that Paul Choi came out of Berea (Kim Ki-dong), which has been declared heretical. The Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapShin) concluded that Choi's book God's Circumstances contains the same ideas as Berea, and it also raised concerns about modalism (the view that the one God appears in the forms of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in different periods).

Assessments by Major Korean Denominations and Ecumenical Bodies

• Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap): At its 96th General Assembly in 2011, the denomination resolved that members should watch InterCP closely and refrain from participation, stating that it contained "elements that are doctrinally unsound or dangerous." In a review at the 98th General Assembly in 2013, it judged InterCP's explanations and expressions of remorse to be acceptable but nonetheless maintained the resolution. The 100th General Assembly in 2015 decided that the resolution could not be lifted.
• Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong): Its study report pointed to InterCP's connections to the New Apostolic movement and spiritual mapping, as well as to Kim Ki-dong's Berea.
• Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin): Although it took a cautious stance in the early stages of its investigation, it reportedly passed resolutions prohibiting interaction in 2015 and 2016.
• Korea Evangelical Holiness Church: In 2018–2019 it summoned Paul Choi to hear his views. It set a period of close observation on the condition that the problems be corrected, and then in 2021 designated InterCP a group to be guarded against, stating that the promises had not been kept.
• Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapShin): At its 107th General Assembly in September 2022, it became the first major denomination to declare InterCP heretical. HapShin concluded that InterCP had not sincerely corrected the matters raised against it, and it stated that internal videos showing inconsistent conduct were an important basis for its decision.
• Korean Christian Association of Cult Counseling Centers: In June 2022 it held a special press conference reaffirming its concerns about InterCP.

InterCP's Position and Rebuttals

InterCP issued official statements in response to the denominations' criticisms, expressing its willingness to receive the church's guidance and instruction and to correct whatever was wrong. It also pointed out that it had received guidance from the Korea World Missions Association and counsel from officials of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (GaeHyuk). On the basis of this process, TongHap's review report judged InterCP's explanations to be acceptable. In June 2018 InterCP petitioned the HapShin denomination for a review. Before the HapShin resolution, InterCP had maintained that no denomination had ever declared it heretical, and it countered unfavorable findings by arguing that the research behind them had been insufficient. In 2022 its representatives asked several denominations, including HapDong and TongHap, to lift their existing resolutions.

Public Controversy

Critics are concerned that InterCP's aggressive mission methods could cause harm to missionaries working in the field. HapShin likewise cited potential harm on the mission field as one of its reasons for declaring InterCP heretical. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cluster of infections linked to the BTJ Nations Center in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, reportedly received extensive media coverage.