New Wine For New Wine Skins

10.3 THE UNIFICATION CHURCH'S VIEW OF THE BIBLE.

The Bible has been honoured as God's word for 40 centuries. The Bible is a  living document, with the Old Testament growing continuosly in the era before the life of Jesus and then being supplemented by the New Testament in the last 2000 years. Still many issues with the Bible remain unresolved. Today God has sent a new truth called Divine Principle which must be considered with the Bible to deepen and strengthen our relationship to Him.
  
The Divine Principle is the most important publication of the Unification Church. Written by Rev Sun Myung Moon it is the result of years of prayerful insight and revelations from God Himself. As well as outlining the new truth, it is considered by the followers of Moon to be the authoritative interpretation of the Bible.

The Unification Church  regard's the Bible as God's word. Many Christians, however, question if in actual practice the Church rejects the authority of the Scriptures in place of the authority of Sun Myung Moon. The words of the Divine Principle and the words of the Bible open our hearts to God which confirms their common source. Clearly, then, the authority of Rev Moon comes from the same source as the authority of the Bible. One does not negate the other.

Because it is a new revelation of truth the Divine Principle, using the same Bible as other Christian's, comes to some very different conclusions. This has been a source of controversy.  Rev Moon reminds us, like Jesus, "not to put new wine into old wineskins." The new truth outlined in the Divine Principle is firmly rooted in and supported by the Bible.

Jesus prayed for oneness among his followers (John 17:21), however over the course of two millenium, Christianity has splintered into hundreds of denominations. “Divergent interpretations of symbolic and metaphorical Bible verses have inevitably led to the division of Christianity into denominations. Only with the aid of the new truth, with its clear explanations, can we bring about Christian unity.” Jesus did not pray to honour diversity, but for oneness. Rev Moon has the desire and vision to honor Jesus’ soulful prayer and help Christianity solve this historical problem.

Has any story in the Bible been interpreted in so many different ways as the Fall of Man”? Has any Christian teaching been able to clearly define “sin”? Has any teaching believed Jesus’ command, “You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”?  The DP’s outline of the fall identifies sin and it's workings in human life. The Principles clear explanation of God's hand in  human history  offers humanity the hope of an ideal world where the dwelling of God is with men, fulfilling scriptures Rev 21:1-21 and Isaiah 65:17-19.

DP states, “Another factor has fated religions to decline. In step with the progress of science, the human intellect has become highly sophisticated, requiring a scientific approach to understanding reality. The traditional doctrines of religions, on the other hand, are largely devoid of scientific explanations.” The Divine Principle clearly states in its introduction, “Scriptures are not the truth itself, but are textbooks teaching the truth. They were given at various times in history as humankind developed both spiritually and intellectually.”The existence of God, God’s hand in human history, God’s moral standards, Jesus’ life and times are not questioned but validated with modern language and science.

Rev Moon has also identified the repeating patterns in human history, recorded in the Bible and extended through Christian history. Events and situations occurring and reoccurring on schedule with uncanny accuracy. These events are a result of God’s desire to send a Messiah to save fallen humanity. The Unification Church accepts the dates and information in the Bible as truthful.

In short, the Unification Church fully respects the Bible as the word of God. It also upholds the Divine Principle as God's word to modern man. Jesus told of a time when he would not speak in figures but be able to speak plainly of the Father: St Paul foretold a time when the perfect would come and the imperfect would pass away. The mission of the new truth will fulfill these prophesies and allow men to come freely to God.

Finally the Unification Church holds all scripture, including the Divine Principle, as being a textbook teaching the truth, not the truth itself.  As Jesus himself pointed out, “I am the way, the light and the truth.” The truth is  a human being who is living his life as the image of God. "Male and female, He created them" the ultimate truth is the family living as the image of God.

New Man- New World Order

No News is Good News? You Are Getting Your News From the Wrong Place!

Here's some good news- a new world order is blossoming: the world where man lives in oneness with God, where man and God are inseperable. Existing as God's "image" men live in harmonious relationships across the globe. This new world order is the ideal, peaceful world men have sought since the beginning of time. Historically only a dream, this new world order is now possible because of the visionary work of Rev Sun Myung Moon.

Is bad news still "news"?

Check any news source- cities,states and nations around the world face economic collapse. Governments, stable and unstable, are increasingly unable to provide fundamental services to the people. Because all existing economies and governments were formed from individuals of imperfect character they have mirrored the imperfections of their creators, inevitably containing the seeds of their own destruction. This is why there is such a gap between our mentality and our morality; this is why there is such a gap between the masses and the classes, even in the best of economic systems.

We all are children of God and we all have the innate desire to share equally in all the benefits that society offers. Every political-economic system- capitalism, socialism, feudalism, democracy, socialism, whatever that doesn't meet this criteria will ultimately face upheaval as individuals seek fair and equal treatment. Don't you also sense the injustice that surrounds us? People of conscious everywhere feel dissatisfied with the current world order of have's and have not's.

Einstein said, "you can't solve problems using the same thinking that created them." Can we solve the worldwide political and economic unrest without a fundamental change in human character? Of couse not! As Calvin Coolidge observerd, "Governments don't make ideals, but ideals make governments." Without a new vision humanity is doomed to repeat, in different forms, all the previous "solutions" to human misery. This new vision has come from Rev Moon.

New Vision for Mankind

God ordained man to be the "image of God", but have we seen this God-like character in humanty? This is the hidden root of all human problems. People are living lives of quiet desperation, seperated from God, serperated from each other. Rev Moon was called by God to pioneer the path back to that original standard. He has stated, "life in union with God is the one great way to live- life with God, life in God, and God living in you. This is the state where God is made the living reality. You no longer believe, but you know. And you live the truth." (God's Will and the World pg168) "God set the pattern for the universe. In the ideal existance we live for others. this is the very reason for our existance; we exist for others, for an object, for a counterpart. This is the principle for all human relationships in our society." (pg 170)

"Living for the sake of others", is the way men of perfected character relate.

There's got to be a better way

So what will happen when we achieve this state of perfection? Jesus was a man who attained this state of oneness with God. Though the Bible records very few of Jesus' words no one man has impacted history more. His ideas are often radical, even revolutionary. For instance, "If a man strikes you on the left cheek, offer him the right as well" is not the advice most fathers give their sons. As for economics Jesus said, "do not worry about what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall wear,...for your Father in heaven knows you need these things; but seek ye first God's Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you."

Jesus was saying that the man who embodies God's righteousness will naturally create a culture and economy that embraces every other man in love. We don't build roads for a paycheck, we build roads to improve transportation. We don't study medicine to live in an upscale neighborhood, we study medicine to help people who are sick or hurt. We won't value people because of the work they do, but because they are people. Economic transactions, indeed all transactions, between people of love will be mutually beneficial and supportive. This is New Age economics at it's best! This is the new world order that everyone will welcome and support.

Live for the sake of others

Rev Moon's primary text, the Divine Principle, has a passage: "in God's Ideal of Creation God confers on each individual the same original value. Just as parents love all their children equally, God desires to provide pleasant environments and living conditions equally to all His children." When God dwells within us the things God desires, we also desire. No favored ones, no untouchables; no aristocrats, no plebians; no royalty, no masses, just children. Children of one living God, living as siblings, in one home.

Rev Moon has clearly identified the true new world order, "...people everywhere have ardently aspired to the world of God's ideal where the purpose of creation is fulfilled. In seeking for a socialistic society on Heaven's side, their original mind has drawn them to the ideals of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values. The world in which these ideals will finally be realized is none other than the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, under the leadership of the returning Christ." (Divine Principle pg 342)

The imperfection of human character that fills the world today has run it's course! St Paul predicted this time when he wrote in 1st Cor, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears." We are living at the intersection of human history- the old world order is established everywhere, but has failed everyewhere. It is based on human beings living seperated from God. A new world order has begun, based on human beings living in oneness with God. This new world order is growing even as the old world is collapsing.

How about this news flash, from the Bible:

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.They will be His people and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes....for the old order of things has passed away." Rev chap 21