Unification Church Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Beliefs {{anchor|Divine Principle}} == Moon's book, '''''The Divine Principle''''', was, he claims revealed to him over a period of 9 years after he claims Jesus appeared to him on Easter Sunday 1936 on mountainside and asked him to continue the work that he could not finish while he was on earth, due to the "tragedy" of his crucifixion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sun Myung Moon {{!}} Founder of Unification Church {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sun-Myung-Moon |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> It was first published as {{transliteration|ko|Wolli Wonbon}} ({{Korean|labels=no|hangul=원리 원본|hanja=原理原本}}, {{gloss|Original Text of the Divine Principle}}) in 1945. The earliest manuscript was lost in North Korea during the [[Korean War]]. A second, expanded version, {{transliteration|ko|Wonli Hesol}} ({{korean|hangul=원리 해설|hanja=原理解說|labels=no}}), or ''Explanation of the Divine Principle'', was published in 1957. The {{ill|Divine Principle|ko|원리강론||preserve=y|italics=y}} or ''Exposition of the Divine Principle'' ({{korean|hangul=원리강론|hanja=原理講論|rr=Wolli Gangnon|labels=no}}) is the main theological textbook of the movement. It was co-written by Sun Myung Moon and early disciple Hyo Won'eu and first published in 1966. A translation entitled ''Divine Principle'' was published in English in 1973.<ref>[[John Bowker (theologian)|John Bowker]], 2011, ''The Message and the Book'', UK, [[Atlantic Books]], pp. 13–14</ref> The ''Divine Principle'' lays out the core of Unification Church theology and is held by its believers to have the status of holy scripture. Following the format of [[systematic theology]], it includes [[God]]'s purpose in creating human beings, the [[fall of man]], and restoration{{snd}}the process through history by which God is working to remove the ill effects of the fall and restore humanity back to the relationship and position that God originally intended.<ref name="Sandon" /> David Václavík and Dušan Lužný described the details of those 3 points as follows: # Principle of Creation: This first principle states that God created the world in his image. All of reality is then composed of bipolarities. The basic bipolarity is expressed by the terms {{transliteration|ko|sung-sang}} ({{Korean|labels=no|hangul=성상|hanja=性相}}, {{gloss|inner character}} – the inner, invisible aspect of the created world) and {{transliteration|ko|hyung-sang}} ({{Korean|labels=no|hangul=형상|hanja=形相}}, {{gloss|outer form}} – the outer, visible aspect of the created world). In addition to this, there is another bipolarity, denoted by the terms ''yin'' and ''yang''. The first-mentioned bipolarity of {{transliteration|ko|sung-sang}} and {{transliteration|ko|hyung-sang}} reflects the relationship between soul (mind) and matter (body), while yin-yang reflects the relationship between femininity and masculinity. Hierarchy, described by the first principle (the basis of the four positions) then guarantees order in the world – God or higher purpose is placed highest, in the middle are man and woman, and finally, children are placed as the result. As Václavík and Lužný further characterize the doctrine, "God is an absolute reality transcending time and space. The fundamental energy of God's being is also eternal. By the action of this energy, entities enter into a relationship with each other, the basis of which is the activity of giving and receiving. The goal is to achieve a balanced and harmonious relationship of giving and receiving, i.e., love." According to the teachings of the Church, the highest level of relationship is the relationship with God. By properly developing the relationship of giving and receiving, it should be possible to achieve union with God. The goal of creation is then the realization of the kingdom of heaven and can be achieved by fulfilling the three biblical blessings. Principle describes three blessings as follows. The first blessing concerns the nature of man: God created man in his own image. The second blessing was to be fulfilled through Adam and Eve by establishing an ideal family that was pure and loving, but they failed to do so. The third blessing concerns man's position as a mediator between God and nature. Man is to master nature in order to perfect himself and nature itself and thus create the kingdom of heaven. Principle then describes three stages of growth of everything including man, namely, origin (formation), growth, and completion.<ref name="Luzny-Vaclavik">{{Cite web |last1=Lužný |first1=Dušan |last2=Václavík |first2=David |date=1997 |title=Církev sjednocení |trans-title=Unification Church |url=http://www.oleweb.net/nnh/moon |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820154651/http://www.oleweb.net/nnh/moon |archive-date=2007-08-20 |access-date=2022-10-14 |language=cs}}</ref> # The Fall of Man: according to the teaching of the Church, there was no fulfillment of God's plan. God endowed man with free will and responsibility. Like everything in the universe, Adam and Eve went through three phases of development (origin, growth, and completion). This part describes that, before completion could occur, the orientation of the give-and-take relationship was reversed when Eve established a [[serpent seed|sexual relationship with Satan]]. Thus occurred the fall of man and the creation of a world "with Satan at the center, and all men have become children of Satan." According to this belief, the world is from that time dominated by Satan's lineage through the human race, and men with evil natures transmit evil. Through their children, they then create evil families and thus an evil world.<ref name="Luzny-Vaclavik" /> # The principle of restoration: According to the teaching of the Church, the primary purpose of creation was to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. This means that God will eventually save this sinful world and restore it to its original, sinless state. This is the basis of the principle of restoration. This is the perspective through which the Unification Church views the entire history of humanity. For the church, history is the history of restoration and of God's efforts to save fallen men. At the end of this history, the Last Days are to come. Restoration teaches, that God has tried to end the sinful world and restore the original good world several times in human history. However, men have failed in their responsibility and thwarted God's will. Doctrine claims that God made several such attempts: in the case of Noah, God first destroyed the sinful world with a flood, yet Noah's second born son Ham sinned again. Another attempt to restore the original sinless world was the coming of Jesus Christ when God sent the Messiah to establish the perfect family and thus create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Jesus did not fulfill this mission because he was crucified. Václavík and Lužný summarize: "According to the doctrine of the Unification Church, we are currently living in the period of the Last Days, that is, the period of the Second Coming of Christ. However, today's situation is very different from previous ones. For Christ will be successful at His Second Coming – God will send the 'True Parents of humanity' and through them fulfill the purpose of creation. During the previous two thousand years, God has prepared, according to the principle of restoration, a suitable democratic, social, and legal environment that will protect Christ at the Second Coming."<ref name="Luzny-Vaclavik" /> Followers take as a starting point the truth of the Christian Old and New Testaments, with the ''Divine Principle'' an additional text that intends to interpret and "fulfill" the purpose of those older texts.<ref name="Sandon">[http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1978/v35-2-article3.htm Korean Moon: Waxing of Waning?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216091211/http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1978/v35-2-article3.htm |date=16 February 2012 }}, Leo Sandon Jr., ''Theology Today'', Vol 35, No 2, July 1978.</ref> Moon was intent on replacing worldwide forms of Christianity with his new unified vision of it,<ref name="WP Obit" /> Moon being a self-declared [[messiah]]. Moon's followers regard him as a separate person from Jesus but with a mission to basically continue and complete Jesus's work in a new way, according to the ''Principle''.<ref name="maass">[http://www.petermaass.com/articles/moon_at_twilight/ Moon At Twilight: Amid scandal, the Unification Church has a strange new mission] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216214217/http://www.petermaass.com/articles/moon_at_twilight/ |date=2020-02-16 }}, [[Peter Maass]] ''[[New Yorker Magazine]]'', September 14, 1998.</ref> The Unification Church regards a person's destination after death as being dependent on how much one's work during this life corresponds to its teachings. Moon's followers believe in [[Apocatastasis]], that everyone will eventually receive [[salvation]].<ref>Freddy Davis: [http://www.marketfaith.org/2014/11/the-unification-churchmoonies/ ''The Unification Church/Moonies''], Marketfaith.org, 25 November 2014.</ref> In 1977, Frederick Sontag analyzed the teachings of the Divine Principle and summarized it in 12 concise points:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sontag |first1=Frederick |url=https://archive.org/details/sunmyungmoonunif00sont |title=Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church |year=1977 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=0-687-40622-6 |location=Nashville |publication-date=1977 |pages=102–105}}</ref> # God: Divine Principle teaches, that there is one living, eternal and true God, a person beyond space and time, who has a perfect reason, emotion, and will, whose deepest heart essence is love, which includes both masculinity and femininity, a person who is the source of all truth, beauty and goodness, and who is the creator and sustainer of man, the universe and all things visible and invisible. Man and the universe reflect his personality, character, and purpose. # Man: Man was then created by God as a unique creature, made in his image as his children, like him in personality and character, and created with the capacity to respond to his love, to be a source of his joy, and to share his creativity. # God's desire for man and creation: To the relationship between God and Man, teaching states that God's desire for man and creation is eternal and unchanging, God wants men and women to fulfill three things: First, each should grow to perfection so as to become one with God in heart, will, and action, so that their mind and body are united in perfect harmony centered on God's love; second, to be united with God as husband and wife and give birth to God's sinless children, thereby establishing a sinless family and ultimately a sinless world; third, to become masters of the created world, establishing loving dominion with him in a mutual relationship of giving and receiving. None of this happened because of human sin. Therefore, God's present desire is to solve the sin problem and restore all these things, which will bring about the earthly and heavenly kingdom of God. # Sin: The ''Divine Principle'' describes the origin of sin and the process of the fall of man. The first man and woman (Adam and Eve), before they became perfect, were tempted by the archangel Lucifer to illicit love. Because of this, Adam and Eve willfully turned away from God's will and purpose, bringing spiritual death to themselves and the human race. As a result of this Fall, Satan usurped the position of the true father of mankind, so that all humans since then have been born in sin both physically and spiritually and have sinful tendencies. Therefore, human beings tend to resist God and his will and live in ignorance as to their true nature and parentage and all that they have lost thereby. Thus God suffers for lost children and a lost world and has had to constantly struggle to restore them to himself. Creation groans to give birth while waiting to be reunited through the true children of God. # Christology: According to the ''Divine Principle'', fallen humanity can only be restored to God through Christ (the Messiah) who comes as the new Adam to become the new head of the human race through whom humanity can be reborn into the family of God. In order for God to send the Messiah, mankind must fulfill certain conditions that restore, what was lost because of the Fall. # History: The ''Divine Principle'' describes, that restoration is accomplished through the payment of the indemnity for a sin. Human history is then a record of God's and man's efforts to make this indemnity over time so that the conditions can be met and God can send the Messiah who comes to begin the final process of restoration. If some efforts fail in fulfilling the conditions of indemnity, they must be repeated, usually by another person after a period of time. This, according to the ''Divine Principle'', is why history shows cyclical patterns. History culminates with the coming of the Messiah, which ends the old age and begins a new age. # Resurrection: The ''Divine Principle'' explains resurrection as the process of restoration to spiritual life and spiritual maturity, ultimately uniting a person with God. It is the transition from spiritual death to spiritual life. This should be accomplished in part by human effort (through prayer, good works, etc.) with the help of the saints in the spirit world and completed by God's effort to bring man to new birth through Christ (the Messiah). # Predestination: According to the ''Divine Principle'', God has predestined absolutely that all men will be restored to him and have chosen all men for salvation, but he has also given man a portion of responsibility (to be fulfilled by man's free will) for the fulfillment of his original will and his will to bring about restoration. This responsibility remains permanently with man. God has predestined and called certain persons and groups of people to certain responsibilities. If these fail, others must fill their role and greater compensation must be made. # Jesus: The ''Divine Principle'' teaches that Jesus of Nazareth came as the Christ, the second Adam, the only begotten Son of God. He became one with God, spoke God's words, and did God's works, thus showing God to men. However, people eventually rejected and crucified him, preventing him from building God's kingdom on earth. The ''Divine Principle'' teaches that Jesus overcame Satan in the crucifixion and resurrection, making spiritual salvation possible for those who are born again through him and the Holy Spirit. The restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth awaits the Second Coming of Christ. # The Bible: The ''Divine Principle'' offers an explanation of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Both should be the record of God's progressive revelation to mankind. The purpose of the Bible, according to the Divine Principle, is to bring humanity to Christ and reveal to mankind the heart of God. The ''Divine Principle'' supports the Bible, as the truth is unique, eternal, and unchanging, so any new messages from God will be consistent with the Bible and will contain deeper explanations. The ''Divine Principle'' describes the current time as the last days when the new truth must be communicated by God (in the book 'God's Principle') so that mankind will be able to finish what is still unfinished. # The ultimate renewal: According to the ''Divine Principle'', a proper understanding of theology focuses simultaneously on man's relationship with God (vertical) and man's relationship with his neighbor (horizontal). Man's sin has disrupted both of these relationships and thus caused all the problems in the world. These problems will be solved through the restoration of man to God through Christ, as well as through such measures as establishing appropriate moral standards and practices, forming true families uniting all peoples and races (Oriental, Western, and African), resolving the tension between science and religion, correcting economic, racial, political, and educational injustices, and overcoming God-denying ideologies such as Communism. # The Second Coming (Eschatology): The ''Divine Principle'' teaches that Christ's Second Coming will occur in this age, which would be similar to the time of his First Coming. Christ should come as before, that is, as a man in the flesh. By marrying his bride in the flesh, he will establish a family and thus become the True Parents of all mankind. Through accepting the 'True Parents ({{Korean|labels=no|hangul=참부모}})' (the Second Coming of Christ), obeying them, and following them, the original sin of mankind would be removed and people can eventually become perfect. In this way, true families fulfilling God's ideal will begin, and the Kingdom of God's will should be established both on earth and in heaven. According to the Divine Principle, this day is now at hand in the person of Sun Myung Moon. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page