"Humans and Dinosaurs Lived in the Same Period"... Park Jinyoung, Amid Heresy Controversy, Says "Listen Just Once"

"More people are learning about us as pastors call us dangerous"
Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) to report findings of heresy study on 'Cheotyeolmaedeul' next September

Singer and producer Park Jinyoung, co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, has once again addressed allegations that the religious group he leads, Cheotyeolmaedeul, is heretical or a cult. He said, “I hope you’ll listen just once,” inviting people to hear his lectures for themselves and make their own judgment. He also claimed that humans and dinosaurs lived during the same period.

Park Jinyoung, co-chair of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee, receives a briefing from a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official before the start of a parliamentary audit of the ministry at the National Assembly on Oct. 7, 2026. Photo by Yoon Dongju

A video titled “For Christians Who Have Not Been Saved” was uploaded to the Cheotyeolmaedeul YouTube channel on November 8. In the video, Park said that people might wonder, “Which of all these churches is the right one? People say the church led by Park Jinyoung is heretical or a cult, but maybe I should listen once, just in case,” adding, “I hope you’ll listen just once.”

“More and more people are learning about our church,” he said. “Pastors say it’s dangerous, and now many people who didn’t even know the church existed have heard about it.” He went on to explain that, as people directly examine various teachings and consider them, they may meet someone who can convey the true word.

Park also offered his interpretation of salvation. He argued that going to heaven or hell is not determined by whether someone has done many good deeds, and that people should examine the Bible’s broader context rather than isolating a single verse. He also said that faith leading to salvation is perfect faith without doubt, describing it as something one “receives as a gift.”

Park Jinyoung giving a lecture titled "The Greatness of Complexity." He is talking about "justice." Screenshot from the YouTube channel Cheotyeolmaedeul.

In the same video, he claimed that “there are many servants of Satan” within the church. His point was that they may appear outwardly to be apostles of Christ, angels of light, or ministers of righteousness.

In another video released the same day, titled “The Greatness of Complexity,” Park interpreted “Behemoth,” an animal mentioned in the Book of Job in the Old Testament, as a dinosaur. Referring to a passage comparing Behemoth’s tail to a cedar, he said, “The only animal that comes to mind if you think about it logically is a dinosaur,” and claimed that “humans, astonishingly, lived during the same period as dinosaurs.”

He added, however, that he was not saying there was conclusive proof that dinosaurs and humans coexisted. “It’s a matter of choosing which explanation makes more sense,” he said. “There’s no absolutely irrefutable proof.” The scientific community currently holds that non-avian dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago and that modern humans appeared about 300,000 years ago. Accordingly, the claim that humans and dinosaurs lived during the same period is inconsistent with the prevailing academic view.

In a video released earlier, on November 3, Park also said of the controversy surrounding Cheotyeolmaedeul, “We’ve now started hearing accusations that we’re heretical or a cult and facing a great deal of persecution in earnest.” The controversy over whether Cheotyeolmaedeul’s teachings are heretical is currently under review at the denominational level. At the request of the Busan Presbytery, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) is conducting a study into whether the doctrines of Park and Cheotyeolmaedeul are heretical. The findings are scheduled to be presented at the regular general assembly in September 2027.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.