The Jesus Christians. 7. The Whipping Trials

In an idiosyncratic application of the Christian theology of “vicarious atonement,” group members agreed to be whipped in three cases for the sins of others.

By Massimo Introvigne and María Vardé

May 9, 2025

Article 7 of 10. Read  article 1, article 2, article 3, article 4, article 5, and article 6.

Whipping after the symbolic 2010 trial against Chinese officers responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong.

Another controversy that arose in the media from a family conflict and the unusual response of the Jesus Christians is the accusation that the leaders flog group members as a form of punishment. This accusation is a favorite of Jesus Christians’ detractors, and probably, due to its spectacular nature, the most successful in scaring public opinion. It is true that some members of the community—including the group’s leaders—submitted to being whipped by other members, but the explanation is supported by the group’s theology and by the fact that it was a project designed to draw attention to a Christian concept of justice. Opinions within the community on whether the project had the desired effect vary; perhaps the practice has been abandoned for that reason.

The first “whipping trial” took place in Kenya in 2006, where some Jesus Christians had a base and were volunteering at a Quaker center near Kakamega town. In 2006, the Jesus Christians had reported the theft of a significant number of dictionaries and schoolbooks intended for needy children, and Nikolas, one of the first volunteers, was identified as one of the perpetrators. The police had already beaten another suspect with over twenty lashes during interrogation, a common—although not official—practice in the region.

Felipe, the current leader of the Jesus Christians movement in Argentina, told us he was a witness to that punishment and recounted that after sharing with the community what he had seen, he expressed his desire to substitute himself for the man to prevent him from receiving the lashes: “Well, upon sharing that thought, a discussion began about the idea of ‘substitutionary punishment’ and how it relates to the Christian concept of ‘substitutionary atonement.’ We thought that instead of the police whipping Nikolas, which would be a severe punishment (and likely counterproductive), we came up with the idea of offering him a much lesser punishment of just five lashes (instead of the more than twenty he would undoubtedly receive during just one police ‘interrogation’). I offered to take the punishment myself, so that Nikolas would know without a doubt that the punishment was not carried out in vengeance or anger, but as an act of justice mixed with mercy.”

Nikolas, who was involved in the first whipping trial.

The decision-making process was deeply rooted in theological reasoning. When this alternative was proposed, the police chief appeared somewhat taken aback, but he agreed that the police would not administer the lashes and gave the Jesus Christians verbal permission to proceed with their idea (which he himself acknowledged was much milder than what they would have done to Nikolas). Nikolas—who was freed by the police and could go home away from the community—was given the option to accept the punishment himself or allow Felipe to take it on his behalf. Ultimately, Nikolas chose to accept the punishment, which lasted less than a minute. This experience profoundly impacted Nikolas, marking a significant change in his behavior and outlook. Despite the unconventional nature of this approach, it fostered a positive transformation and maintained a strong bond between Nikolas and the community.

The following trial occurred in late 2006 in Long Beach, California. At that time, the father and a brother of Joseph Johnson, a new member of the Jesus Christians, publicly assaulted another member, Reinhard Zeuner. The assault resulted in Zeuner’s hospitalization, with multiple broken teeth, numerous cuts to the head and face, a spinal fracture, and cerebral hemorrhage. Although a bystander filmed the incident, the police did not file charges. In response to the perceived lack of justice for the harm caused to Zeuner, some Jesus Christians, along with Dave and Cherry McKay, conducted a symbolic trial to judge Joseph’s parents and two brothers for attempted murder. Without the presence of Joseph’s family, sentences of between five and twenty-five lashes were given to the accused.

Joseph (left) and Reinhard (right).

Under the principle of “substitutional punishment,” with the intention that the accused would reflect and apologize for their actions, Dave and Cherry McKay, along with Joseph and another group member, volunteered to receive the lashes. The event was filmed and broadcast by “Fox 11.” Although initially organized by invitation from the Jesus Christians, the program took on a sensationalist tone.

Despite the video showing that Dave McKay, Joseph, and others needed a police escort to leave the building due to physical threats from Joseph’s family, the program lamented that it was not possible to intervene in Joseph’s decision because he was of legal age. Despite the assault on Zeuner being widely publicized and documented by Fox 11, as of the date of this article, the police have never filed charges for the incident.

Images (unfortunately blurred) from the “Fox 11” 2006 reportage on the Long Beach whipping trial.

Finally, in 2010, the Jesus Christians, along with other human rights advocates, organized a symbolic trial to judge the crimes committed by the People’s Republic of China against Falun Gong members. According to our interviewees, the project was designed to provide moral and symbolic support to the victims. The trial, which included testimonies from survivors of Chinese concentration and extermination camps, concluded with a sentence of twenty-five lashes for the two Chinese officials accused of these crimes. Once again, the lashes were received by two volunteers, who expressed their desire to alleviate the anguish of the victims by demonstrating that the crimes to which they had been subjected would not go unpunished.

The Jesus Christians wanted to achieve several objectives by taking the punishments instead of others. Mainly, they sought to demonstrate their concept of Christian justice, which is based on the idea that all crimes must be punished, but that love and mercy can lead someone to take the punishment for another. This act of receiving lashes in the name of another person was intended to emulate the sacrifice of Jesus. Just as Jesus took the suffering for the sins of humanity, the Jesus Christians wanted to show their willingness to suffer for the mistakes of others, thus reflecting their devotion and commitment to Christian principles.

An image of the Falun Gong trial, 2010.

The practice also sought to foster deep spiritual reflection and a sense of atonement in both the members of the group and those observing the act. In addition, they sought to demonstrate solidarity with those who had made mistakes and with the victims of those mistakes, proving that they were willing to share their sufferings. These objectives reflect a combination of theological principles and strategies of the Jesus Christians to generate social and media impact. This practice was a way for them to deepen their faith and commitment to Christian principles.

We do not deny that the practice of judgment by whipping is somewhat extreme. Our aim here is to understand the religious foundations of the practice and to report that its implementation involved the informed consent of all participants, who prayed on the matter and decided to carry it out through dialogue and discussion.

These whipping demonstrations were only carried out on those three occasions and have never been a regular group practice. On the other hand, beyond whether or not we can agree with this way of applying justice, we must remember that flogging is part of numerous religious rites, even in hegemonic religions such as Roman Catholicism. Although they may seem exotic or extreme to us, they can form part of particular and diverse ways of understanding the world.

While physical flogging is discouraged by the Catholic Church today, it subsists in folk religion in several countries. “Vicarious suffering” was a theological concept with important ramifications in Catholic practice, culture, art, and literature. It implies that Catholics may voluntarily do penance and expiate for sins that others have committed. As late as 2024, Pope Francis (1936-2025) praised in his encyclical “Dilexit Nos” the practice of “reparation,” through which Catholics offer sacrifices for the sins of others, and revived the 19th-century concept of “social reparation,” i.e., vicarious suffering offered by pious Catholics to atone for the sins of a materialistic and uncharitable society.

Without going any further, another example of a practice that does not involve blows but does involve mutilation and lacerations—albeit for secular purposes—is offered by the piercings and tattoos that are very common in contemporary Western society. Ultimately, the central point is the free will of the person who decides to undergo these practices.

Source: bitterwinter.org