Many will no doubt flockto hear him when he comes to Singapore. They will return testifying ofhow much they have been blessed by this man of prayer, whose sermonsare well supported by Scriptures and who loves the Lord Jesus Christ somuch that His name is constantly on his lips. Someone who prays sofervently, knows the Scripture so well, loves the Lord, and is sogreatly used of God cannot be very wrong. To criticise him would surelybe to touch the Lord’s anointed out of a spirit of jealousy and pride.

But is this man reallyused of God as it appears? Does he faithfully expound the Scriptures?Does he pray as we are taught in the Scriptures? I am afraid not, and Ihope to show it very briefly according to the admonition of the ApostlePaul in Romans 16:17–18:

Now I beseech you,brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to thedoctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are suchserve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good wordsand fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

The cornerstone anddistinguishing mark of Cho’s theology is no doubt the doctrine of "TheFourth Dimension," which is explained in his book bearing the sametitle and published in two volumes by Bridge-Logos Publishers (NewJersey), 1979 [reprinted 1999] and 1983. Essentially, this doctrineteaches that man can not only interact in three-dimensional space but,since there is a spiritual realm and man has a soul, he can alsomanipulate what happens in the spiritual or fourth dimension. Andsince, according to Cho, whatever happens in three-dimensional spacehas its genesis, and is influenced by forces, in the fourth dimension,Christians who learn to manipulate the fourth dimension can create anydesired objects or circumstance in three-dimensional space. Thismanipulation is accomplished by prayer, positive thinking,visualisation and dreams (see vol. 1, pp. 25–29).

According to Cho, hefirst learned this principle when as poor young minister he begunpraying for a desk, a chair and a bicycle. The prayer was not answeredfor several months, until one day, he asked the "Spirit": "Where is mydesk, chair and bicycle?" The "Spirit" answered:

Yes, that is the troublewith you, and with all my children. They beg me, demanding every kindof request, but they ask in such vague terms that I can’t answer. Don’tyou know that there are dozens of kinds of desks, chairs and bicycles?But you’ve simply asked me for a desk, chair and bicycle. You neverordered a specific desk, chair or bicycle? (vo1. 1, p. 4).

From then on, Cho"ordered these things in such articulate terms that God could not makea mistake in delivering them" (ibid., pp. 4–5). After several weeks (ormonth or years?) of "incubation," he finally had his Filipino Mahoganydesk, American bicycle and roller tipped chair.

This same principle waslater applied to praying for $5 million dollars for his church buildingand also for 50,000 members. They all incubated in him until theybecame reality (ibid., pp. 17–18)!

What is the "theological basis" of his experience? Let’s hear it in his own words: 

• There are three spiritual forces in the earth. The spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the spirit of Satan…. All three spirits are in the realm of the fourth dimension, so naturally spirits can hover over the material third dimension and exercise creative powers (vol. 2, p. 38).
• God spoke to my heart, "… the third dimension includes and controls the second dimension, so the fourth includes and controls the third dimension, producing a creation of order and beauty" (vol. 1, p. 28).
• The only way to carry out dominion over this third dimension material world is through your imagination, your visions and dreams (vol. 1, p. 42).
• Through visualisation and dreaming you can incubate your future and hatch the results (vol. 1, p. 32).
• We should always try to visualise the end result as we pray. In that way, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can incubate that which we want God to do for us…. If you have not visualise clearly in your heart exactly what you hope for, it cannot become a reality to you… (vol. 2, pp. 25, 26, 28).
• So men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension through the development of concentrated visions and dreams in their imagination, can brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it. This is what the Holy Spirit taught me (vol. 1, p. 28).

The Holy Spirit said, "Myson, man still does not realise the spiritual power that I have givenhim." "Yes," I said, realising what God was referring to…. Falseprophets had power in the realm of the spirit because they had come torealise their potential (vol. 2, p. 38).

Hank Hanegraaff, in Christianity in Crisis(Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), declares that Cho’s conceptof fourth-dimension is "nothing short of occultism" and is a "departurefrom historic Christian theology and his entry into the world of theoccult" (p. 353). He summarises this departure very well:

Cho is well aware thatpagan religions harness this power. He claims that God told him thatBuddhist and Yoga adherents work miracle cures because they, unliketheir Christian counterparts, had more fully developed theirfourth-dimensional powers. Referring to the Buddhist version of a"name-it-and-claim-it" cult called Soka Gakkai, Cho says that whilethey belong to Satan, their fourth-dimensional acumen has provided themwith dominion over their bodies and circumstance. By "repeating phrasesover and over again… these people are creating something" andperforming "miracles," says Cho. "But if the devil could do thesethings, why should not the Church of Jesus Christ do all the more" (pp. 82–83, with reference to The Fourth Dimension, vol. 1, pp. 25–29, 1.48, 1.26).

Cho claims repeatedlythat the doctrine of the fourth dimension is taught to him by the "HolySpirit." If that is the case, it appears to me that that cannot be thesame Spirit who said:

There shall not be foundamong you… that useth divination, or an observer of times, or anenchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiarspirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these thingsare an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations theLord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt beperfect with the Lord thy God (Deut 18:10–13).

Cho may claim: "Weharness the Holy Spirit’s power, not the power of Satan!", but whereare we specifically taught in the Scriptures that we are to harness thepower of the Holy Spirit by occultic methods? And did not the HolySpirit inspire Paul to write: "What concord hath Christ with Belial?…And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" (2 Cor 6:15–16)?Where in the Scriptures do we find the glorious and omnipotent HolySpirit presented as some sort of a semi-divine Santa Claus who isunable to deliver one’s wishes unless the specifications are precise and complete? Did not the Lord say,

(For after all thesethings do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that yehave need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall takethought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evilthereof" (Matt 6:32–34).

Somehow visualising and brooding over to incubate some material things yearned for does not agree with our Lord’s teaching.

It is not surprisingtherefore that in the doctrinal statement of the Yiodo Full GospelChurch (which must have been penned by Cho or his assistants), in whichit is claimed that the church teaches a fivefold Gospel, the doctrineof substitutionary and propitiatory atonement of Christ is notmentioned at all. Instead we are told:

The reason Christ livedin such poverty while on this earth was so that we could live well andto remove us from the law of the curse [sic]. If we do not claim ourrightful blessings as children of God, we are wasting the life ofpoverty which Christ led while on earth (under §4.2 "Redemption on the Cross and Blessing").

It seems to me that theclosest the doctrinal statement got to the orthodox justification bygrace through faith is the statement under §1.1, "The Way toRegeneration," in which it is asserted:

As was prophesied, JesusChrist became the living sacrifice for the salvation of all mankind.Salvation made available through the suffering and the death of Jesuson the cross has four meanings. First, the suffering and the death onthe cross shows man the result of the sin of man (Isaiah 53:5). Second,it shows mankind the extent to which God loves the mankind (Romans5:8). Third, it shows mankind the true value of each man (Matthew16:26). Fourth, it shows mankind the cost of reconciliation (Isaiah53:6).

I believe even Arminianswould shy away from this universalistic and powerless concept ofatonement. It is hard to believe that the "Jesus Christ" of Cho is theSon of God revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Perhaps this is why, the"Jesus" of Cho is helpless without man, and must be controlled by Cho’svisualisation technique:

You create the presenceof Jesus with your mouth. If you speak about salvation, the savingJesus appears. If you speak about divine healing, then you will havethe healing Christ in your congregation. If you speak the miracleperforming Jesus, then the presence of the miracle performing Jesus isreleased. He is bound by your lips and by your words. He is dependingon you (The Fourth Dimension, vol. 1, pp. 64–65).

This is just a tip of theice-berg of Cho’s heretical theology. I have no doubt that Cho’s gospelis "another gospel: which is not another" (Gal 1:6–7). Cho is apseudo-Christian syncretistic health and wealth,"name-it-and-claim-it" advocate. Let Christians beware!