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

Who Says You Can't Get Good News?

I can't say for sure but I'm guessing that 2000 years ago the major news media missed the boat on Jesus Christ, letting the most important news event of their time slip by without one positive story! Looks like the AP has learned from history and sent a news team to cover Rev Moons 90th birthday celebration. Good for them!

They weren't ready to go so far as to endorse Rev Moon and they had to throw in one reference to "brainwashing", but they stuck to the obvious facts and even had the guts to use the "M" word (that's Messiah) in this short clip. The video closes with an excellent quick interview with Hyung Jin Moon, Rev Moon's youngest son. Check it out.

70 years ago Rev Moon had an encounter with Jesus Christ. This spurred him to seek to unravel the tragic, tangled web of human history and clarify the very nature of God.
For over 50 years he has been teaching a new vision of man- man and woman of perfected character, in unity with God; the centrality of the family created by such men and women and the potential of an ideal world. His teachings are not bound by any one religion or culture or nationality but embrace all mankind in brotherhood with one Parent, God.

In the Kingship of God's Love

God's number one rule is that true love is absolute! Rev Moon and the Unification Church are proclaiming and protecting the "love rights" of humanity.

 

I would like to recommend that you blessed couples stay together as much as possible when you have the chance, even going to the bathroom together and whispering love to each other there. Share the equipment together and when you finish clean one another up. Would God look down and exclaim at how ridiculous and repulsive you are? No, He would be excited and uplifted to see such love. God's number one rule is that true love is absolute and in that case it doesn't make any difference where it is expressed - in the bathroom, in the garden; anywhere is fine and that love will bring ecstatic love to God.

 

If in order to promote such absolute love you end up in jail for several years, what does it matter? It makes your life more romantic and dramatic. There is no prison anywhere which can confine true love, no regulation which can stop the march of true love. Any law trying to do so shall melt away. Those who are trying to proclaim and practice such true love in the twentieth century are called Moonies.

 

People might look at your humble dress and pale faces and think you are really wretched people who do nothing but work all day on MFT or knocking on peoples' doors. Externally they might see that, but inside the motor is running and you have a big heart going after true love. Nothing under the sun can compare with the value of your heart. You should have pride; even though you may not be the most beautiful kind of person physically, you possess true, burning love centered upon God. You are princes and princesses of love and of heaven, and you shall have such a person as your husband and wife.

 

The person who conquers the universe with his true love is going to be your mate; he will be a king of love. He will be the only absolute king of love in your life; he will be your subject and master and for him you will write poetry and songs of love, pouring out your heart. God is almighty in that respect, and He has the ability to make each of you a king of love so you shall have such ecstatic joy as this. God is the king of kings of love and He is eager to see each of His children becoming kings of love, each creating his own empire of love where God can dwell.

 

Elevating Humanity

Some people say believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Rev Moon has seen something in people that no one has seen before, are you ready to believe?

God And Man Are Inseparable 

Perfection cannot be attained by man alone nor even by God alone. Man's perfection can only be attained in relation to God, and God can only achieve His highest perfection in relation to man. Even in the very concept of creation God and man are inseparable. The fulfillment of God's goal and man's goal is not accomplished up in the air. God wants to see that perfection attained here on earth. This is why we do not actually rise up to God's position. Instead God comes down to us because He wants to make His dwelling with men. Some people might ask how we could know this. Let me ask you, do you like a man who just talks, talks, talks, without even accomplishing one single deed? Do you like people who say, "I have a great idea and a great philosophy and I can unite the world," but they turn around and do nothing about it? Do you prefer a man of action or a man of empty words? You respect the man of action.
 
Talk Is Cheap In Heaven and On Earth

This is precisely how God feels. Is there anyone who has a bigger ideal than God? God wants to have His ideal actualized but because he is spirit He cannot do it by Himself. He needs man to actualize it. You thought God was almighty and all-perfect, but actually He has a weakness: without us even God cannot be perfected. God is not floating around up in heaven; His entire attention is right here on earth, focused on every human soul. God is seeking true men and women here on earth to fulfill His desire in action and deed.
I want you to come to an important realization: Your one life here on earth is your most precious and unique opportunity in all eternity. This is your chance to resurrect not only yourselves but also God. You can perfect not only your own goal but also God's goal. What a great opportunity! In this respect our lives here on earth are so precious. The invisible God who put all the creation together cannot exchange anything for one man's life on earth.

One Man Is More Precious... 
Why is man's physical life so important? God and all the creation cannot be brought to perfection without man. Therefore the value of God plus all the creation still cannot surpass the value of one true man. One man is that precious. That man is the key to the realization of man's perfection and God's perfection. According to the Bible you cannot exchange even the entire universe for one man. "For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole universe and forfeits his life?" Even the entire universe is of no value to you if you lose your own life.

Elevating Humanity

Human Beings come in two styles- man or woman and as they say in France, "Viva la difference!"

Had Adam, the first human ancestor, reached perfection, he would have embodied all the subject elements in the things of creation. Had Eve attained perfection, she would have embodied all the object elements in the things of creation. God created Adam and Eve to have dominion over the natural world. Growing together toward perfection, Adam was to become the king of all the subject elements in creation and Eve was to become the queen of all the object elements. If they had then become one as husband and wife, they would have become the center that could rule the entire universe consisting of subject partners and object partners.

Human beings are created to be the center of harmony of the whole cosmos. If Adam and Eve had attained perfection and united as husband and wife, it would have meant the joining into oneness of the two centers of the dual characteristics of all beings. Had Adam and Eve moved together in harmony and attained oneness, the whole cosmos with its dual characteristics would have danced in harmony. The place where Adam and Eve become perfectly one in heart and body as husband and wife is also the place where God and human beings become united. This is the center of goodness where the purpose of creation is fulfilled. Here God, our Parent, draws near and abides within His perfected children and rests peacefully for eternity. This center of goodness is the object partner to God's eternal love, where God can be stimulated with joy for eternity. This is the place where the Word of God is incarnated and brought to fulfillment.

Who Are We?

From the beginning of time men have struggled in the relationships they build. Between men and women, between culture and culture, even between nation and nation, we have seen man's inhumanity towards man. Without knowing who we are we can never establish true human relationships. The following passage from Divine Principle clearly identifies what it is to be human.

We have discussed how God's purpose in creating human beings was to rejoice with them. Thus, our purpose of existence is to bring joy to God. What must we do to bring joy to God and fully manifest our original value?
Created beings other than humans are endowed with the innate nature to grow to maturity naturally and become object partners which bring God joy. Human beings, on the other hand, can become true and authentic object partners who bring joy to God only through their free will and free actions. They cannot become the object partners who inspire God with joy unless they understand His Will and make effort to live accordingly. Hence, human beings are endowed with emotional sensitivity to the Heart of God, intuition and reason to comprehend His Will, and the requisite abilities to practice it. A person who relates with God in this manner will attain perfection of his individual character. Adam and Eve prior to the Fall, as well as the prophets of every age, had some ability to converse with God because they had these innate faculties.
The relationship between God and a person who has attained individual perfection can be compared to that between the mind and the body. The body is the dwelling place of the mind and moves according to the mind's direction. Likewise, God abides within the mind of a fully mature person. Such a person becomes a temple of God and leads his life in harmony with His Will. A perfect individual is fully attuned to God, just as the body resonates with the mind. For this reason it is written, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" and "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." A person who has perfected his individual character becomes a temple of God, and the Holy Spirit abides within him. Living in oneness with God, he acquires a divine nature. Thus, it is impossible for him to commit sin or to fall.

A person who has perfected his individual character embodies total goodness and fulfills the purpose of creation. If a person embodying total goodness could fall, this would lead to the illogical conclusion that goodness contains the seed of its own destruction. Moreover, if human beings, who were created by the omnipotent God, could fall even after becoming perfect, we would have reason to doubt the omnipotence of God. God is the absolute and eternal Subject. To give Him true joy, His object partner must necessarily also be eternal and absolute. For these reasons, a person who has perfected his individual character can never fall.
Had Adam and Eve reached perfection, being thereafter insusceptible to sin, they would have borne good children and founded a sinless family and society in complete concordance with God's blessings. They would have founded the Kingdom of Heaven, which consists of one great family with the same parents. The Kingdom of Heaven has the form of an individual who has achieved perfection of character. Just as the members of the human body are coordinated in horizontal relationships with each other and move as one in response to the vertical commands of the brain, in this society people will form cooperative horizontal relationships with each other and live together in tune with the vertical directions emanating from God. No one will harm his neighbor, since if one person were to suffer pain, everyone in this society would experience the Heart of God who shares in that person's grief.
Regardless of the purity of the people of this society, if they were living in primitive circumstances like cavemen, this could not be considered the Kingdom of Heaven which both God and human beings desire. God gave us the mandate to have dominion over all things. Hence, to realize the ideal of creation, people of perfected character should advance science, harness the natural world, and create an extremely pleasant social and living environment. This will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Once people have attained full maturity and enjoyed life in God's earthly Kingdom, then when they shed their physical bodies and pass into the spirit world, they will form the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. Accordingly, God's primary purpose of creation is to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

This is the theory of the ideal idividual, family and society. In practice this family Rev Moon described looks like this:


What is the definition of the ideal family? The ideal family possesses the eternal love of God; the ideal family possesses the everlasting love of husband and wife, and the ideal family will have love between parents and children, These three eternal and lasting loves combined together will make an eternal family.
Married people, if you love your own wife, if you love your own husband, then when you look at other men or women, you will respect and admire them just as you do your own family members. For men, the female world is an extension of the world of your wife. One woman was selected out of all the billions of women as a representative woman. A woman must think of her husband as the representative of the entire male race, the symbol or center of the male race.
When you go to the spirit world, that world works like this: The person who has lots of love toward his own parents, toward his own brothers and sisters, husband or wife, and children, that is, the person who experiences a deep sense of love in family life will have much, much freedom to maneuver. He can go horizontally in all directions, everywhere without any limitation. In contrast, a person who has no experience of love is narrow-minded. He isolates himself in spirit world and has no freedom at all.
The love between parents and children is a vertical relationship; the love between a husband and wife is a horizontal relationship, and the love between brothers and sisters is a circling, surrounding relationship. These three relationships are different. If you experience here on earth a deep sense of love in these three different ways, then you will be able to maneuver vertically without limitation, horizontally without limitation, and circle around without limitation. Those who did not taste parental love because of the early death of a parent, for example, are tragic people in a way, because they lack that very important aspect of experience. Likewise, those people who never experienced family life, the husband and wife relationship, are also in a way very poor in spirit world because they lack one important aspect of life. Also, those without brothers and sisters are in a poor position because they can not live a full life in spirit world with one whole area of experience lacking. A wholesome family life, therefore, has grandparents, parents and children. If one generation is lacking, the family somehow feels crippled. The ideal family alone can serve as the building block of the Kingdom of God on earth.

If we can create, that is live in, an ideal family we can create an ideal society, culture, world, universe! That is the great purpose and meaning of human life. We have the mission to create an ideal family here on earth.