Author: Richard U.

You Are Peter, and on This Rock I Will Build My Church

Numbers 36

36 One day the family leaders from the Gilead clan of the Manasseh tribe went to Moses and the other family leaders of Israel 2 and said, “Sir, the Lord has said that he will show what land each tribe will receive as their own. And the Lord has commanded you to give the daughters of our relative Zelopheha the land that he would have received. 3 But if they marry men from other tribes of Israel, the land they receive will become part of that tribe’s inheritance and will no longer belong to us. 4 Even when land is returned to its original owner in the Year of Celebration, we will not get back Zelophehad’s land—it will belong to the tribe into which his daughters married.”

Esther 9

12 Then he told Esther, “Five hundred people, including Haman’s ten sons, have been killed in Susa alone. If that many were killed here, what must have happened in the provinces? Is there anything else you want done? Just tell me, and it will be done.”

Richard: God’s people must lead the way. Secular leaders are not to be in charge, except as God will allow. Secular leaders have to seek God’s way, and specifically understand that a New Age has come, and what the New Truth is and what must be done. Start with this speech and this Principle booklet.

Christianity

4. History of Christianity: Triumphalism, Corruption and Renewal

About noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, Constantine saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle.
    Eusebius, Life of Constantine
 
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock33 I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
    Matthew 16.18-19
 
The true faith compels us to believe there is one holy Catholic Apostolic Church, and this we firmly believe and plainly confess. Outside of her there is no salvation or remission from sins.
    Now, therefore, we declare, say, determine and pronounce that for every human creature it is necessary for salvation to be subject to the authority of the Roman pontiff.
    Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam 
 
For the defense of the faith secular authorities ought publicly to take an oath that they will strive in good faith and to the best of their ability to exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics pointed out by the Church.
    Fourth Lateran Council, Canon 3
 
The Romanists have very cleverly built three walls around themselves… In the first place… temporal power had no jurisdiction over them… In the second place… only the pope may interpret the Scriptures. In the third place… no one may summon a council but the pope…
    Therefore, when necessity demands it, and the pope is an offense to Christendom, the first man who is able should, as a true member of the whole body, do what he can to bring about a truly free council. No one can do this so well as the temporal authorities.
Martin Luther, On Papal Power
 
Religion is the sob of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
    Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
 
The God of Israel is among us… when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: The Lord make it like that of New England: for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity
 
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential urgency.
 
George Washington, First Inaugural Address
 
 

God So Loved the World

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1976

On the Korean peninsula, the Republic of Korea is destined to battle and triumph over communism. When it does, the Republic of Korea will play an active role in the world. However, if it is defeated by communism, the Republic of Korea will disappear without a trace. The Vietnam War is a prime example of the tragic fate that awaits you after defeat. North Korea represents evil, while the Republic of Korea represents good. The devil controls North Korea, while God sides with the Republic of Korea. In this manner, the Korean peninsula is becoming a region in which good and evil are in the sharpest confrontation in the world. All the evil in the world will perish when good overruns and defeats evil in this area. Throughout providential history, God has been eagerly waiting for the Korean people and the free people of the world to come together and achieve a complete victory. (129-331, 1983.12.14)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1735

Should not Adam and Eve’s wedding be God’s wedding? Where will you go to meet God, who created the object partner of His love to be superior to Him? Where will you go to unite with Him? Through the nose? Where would it be? This is a weighty matter. As such, the sexual organs, found in both men and women, are the original garden wherein God can reside. That is where His love is perfected for the first time. That is the place where concave and convex come together as one. That is where the perfection of human beings, that is, the perfection of woman, man and God, takes place centering on love. (261-220, 1994.6.19)

3. The Church’s Mission to the World

I am the Lord , I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations.
    Isaiah 42.6

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
    John 3.16-17

In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
    2 Corinthians 5.19-20

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.
    Matthew 28.18-20: The Great Commission

When they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
    Acts 1.6-9

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Christians enjoy reciting John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.” Christians emphasize the second part of the verse and forget the most important thing—that God so loved the world. God did not so love the church, or the Jews, that He sent His only begotten Son. It was because God so loved the world—the universe.
    Who is Jesus? He is the central person of the world. He came to save the world. Those whose faith is to believe in Jesus should have the world—including God, this planet, everything—very much on their minds. Yet most Christians are ignorant of this.
    Have you heard complaints that many Christians are worse than ordinary people? They believe in God, yet they are more selfish and wicked than nonbelievers. Was Jesus a self-centered, individualistic person? Nevertheless, why have so many American Christians, followers of Jesus in the nation that most represents the Christian faith, become individualistic? If they truly believed in Jesus well, they would not. It means that they only use faith in God and Jesus to advance their self-interest. (124:294, March 1, 1983)
 
God desires that all of you should become sacrificial offerings. As an offering, it is not proper for you to raise your head until the day when God and all humankind rejoice. If a Christian church raises its head before God is happy and before all humankind rejoices, it will perish. Christianity has the mission to serve all people. It exists as an offering for humanity. If not, it has not been fulfilling its mission and needs to be reformed without delay.
    Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Crown Prince of Heaven, came as such a universal offering. Therefore, although he looks from heaven and sees believers on earth rejoicing in his grace, he cannot be happy. The day will finally come when Jesus can rejoice; it will come only after God and all humankind rejoice. That is the day of the Second Coming. But first, he will have to lead the church on the sacrificial path of an offering. (5:79-80, December 21, 1958)
 
Jesus was chased out on the road of death, yet his road followed the way of Heaven. His path was not that of a worthless life, but rather a path of lofty and infinite value. It lifted the standard for all humankind. It contains the core teachings sought by the whole world. Jesus’ teachings are definitely the standard that humankind must seek, and his path is the path humankind must follow. Indeed, his teachings are the basis of today’s democracies and world community. (41:70, February 13, 1971)
 
Christianity will form the world’s dominant cultural sphere in the Last Days. Centered on Christian civilization, the nations of the world will join in a world community. (39:44, January 9, 1971)
 
We should enlist the cooperation of all Christians throughout the world to build God’s nation on earth, just as Jesus in his day was to fulfill his mission to build God’s Kingdom by enlisting the cooperation of Judaism. Christians today should understand that they have a mission to accomplish: to build God’s Kingdom on this earth. Christian thought is the basis of democracy worldwide. Christians should uphold Christian thought to build God’s Kingdom based upon democracy. (3:123-24, October 13, 1957)

 
 
 

We Should Be As Members of One Household

Luke 9

Jesus said to his disciples, “Have the people sit in groups of fifty.” 15 They did this, and all the people sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and fish and handed them to his disciples to give to the people.

Richard: We have all the resources that we need, if we can work together, centered on God’s New Word.

Ezekiel 20

6 I swore that I would rescue them from Egypt and lead them to a land I had already chosen. This land was rich with milk and honey and was the most splendid land of all. 7 I told them to get rid of their disgusting idols and not to sin by worshiping the gods of Egypt. I reminded them that I was the Lord their God, 8 but they still rebelled against me. They refused to listen and kept on worshiping their idols and foreign gods.

Christianity

2. Christian Unity

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.
    Ephesians 4.4-6
 
You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
    Ephesians 2.19-22
 
I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.
    John 17.20-23
 
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.     Colossians 3.12-15 
 
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
 
We frequently hear that the church is the body of Christ. What is the body of Christ? Does it consist of church buildings made of wood or stone? No, the body of Christ is the congregation, the people. We who believe in Jesus are Jesus’ body and Christ’s representatives on earth.
    If the believers are the body of Christ, then can there be more than one church? Today’s church, divided as it is into numerous denominations, is a church in error. It is heartbreaking for Jesus to see the existence of so many denominations, each bearing his name. It is as though his body has been torn apart into many pieces…
    Christianity should have become a single worldwide religion, based on the victorious foundation of Jesus’ sacrifice. Like Jesus’ own body, the church should have become a whole offering before God; then by that victorious foundation of offering, it could have become one worldwide religion, one Christian church. Instead, the heart of Jesus Christ is grieved to see his body so shamefully divided. Jesus is the mind and today’s Christianity is the body. How can there be one mind and 1,000 bodies? How can the mind and body differ to such an extent? Therefore, our task is to unite them as one mind and one body.
    What is the core conviction that Jesus has sought to convey to Christianity until this day? It is this: “God is our Father, all people are our brothers and sisters; the earth belongs to all of us; therefore we should be as members of one household.” Today’s Christians should adopt this outlook. Since it is God’s teaching and Jesus’ teaching, it should be Christianity’s teaching. Therefore, we should not get caught up in sectarian squabbles. We should restore the people, even if to do so we have to abandon our denomination. We should restore the earth, even if our denomination must perish in the process. (93:12-25, May 8, 1977)
 
Why is today’s Christianity divided into numerous denominations? The proliferation of denominations contradicts the Christian doctrine that we ought to love our enemies. Christian doctrine instructs us to love the brethren, but people have forgotten it. Christians may love one another within the same church, yet their churches are fighting one another. Jesus taught us to love our brethren. From Jesus’ perspective, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Holiness Church and all other denominations are each other’s brethren. (107:20, February 21, 1980)
 
God’s heaviest burden is to create oneness among the declining remnants of Christianity and among the many religions. While God is trying hard to create oneness among the religions, some Methodists are praying, “O Father, I don’t care what happens to other churches, but please bless the Methodist Church.” Do you think such a prayer will reach God’s ears? Methodism is only one of more than four hundred denominations. God will say, “You rascals! You denominationalists! Before praying for yourselves, you should make the Christian church one! If you do that, I will listen to your prayer.”
    What would God say if Christians were to unite as one and pray, “O Lord! Give us strength to resolve your biggest headache by uniting Christianity and creating oneness among all the religions. Gives us the ability! Help us to create this oneness!” Surely He would say, “Yes, I will grant your prayer.”  God is waiting for the appearance of people who can break down the walls surrounding the denominations and make them one. (98:114-15, May 7, 1978)
 
By what means can we unite Christianity throughout the world? It is by the Holy Spirit. Hence, I named our church, “The Holy Spirit Association.” Not by fists or bayonets, but by the Holy Spirit.  We cannot unite the churches by human power. It is possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit, through mobilizing the hosts of heaven. (113:97, May 1, 1981)
 
 
 

Christianity Needs to Be Reformed

Cheon Seong Gyeong 291

    Established Christian churches are making a big fuss because I said that Jesus is my disciple, but they will see everything when they go to the spirit world. Why do I say such things, when I know clearly that doing so will cause me to be inundated with curses?
    How about the established Christian churches? Through Unification Church members, I will clean up anything that is unclean in their back rooms and hold worship services transcending all denominations. After this, I will go to the spirit world. I will go there after completing that trans-denominational worship. You may not know this, but there are already a large number of ministers using our Principle. Some of them read the Divine Principle on a blanket and when a deacon or elder comes in, they quickly hide it underneath the blanket, and then take it out again when they leave, and read it all night. They memorize it and diligently use it.
    Autumn leaves do not fall all at once. Do they fall all at once? They do not. They fall one by one, rather than as a whole bunch. Although they fall one by one, before long the tree, once clothed with green, is left with no leaves. Whether they know it or not, I am dealing with things in that way. (213-34, 1991.1.13)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1123

Adam and Eve were to be the body of God. They were to be the horizontal parents, while God was the vertical Parent. We should eventually discard this horizontal body, enter the original homeland vertically, and live in attendance to the eternal King in the heavenly kingdom. Had Adam and Eve not fallen, then through perfecting themselves, they would have become God’s body and the king and queen of love. They would have fulfilled their portion of responsibility connecting the realms of direct and indirect dominion on earth through the love of God. (213-190, 1991.1.20)

Christianity

1. The Core Traditions of Christianity: Love and Sacrifice

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Christianity started from the cross, and wherever Christians went they were struck and shed blood. Christianity today can lead the world only when it takes the position of being persecuted. Behold! The palace of Christianity stands on the top of Vatican Hill where the most martyrs died. (Way of God’s Will 3.4)

You may not know how much sacrifice Christianity endured in order to establish its worldwide foundation. The history of Christianity is so stained with blood that there may be no place on earth where the miserable cries of its sacrificial offerings did not ring out. Even to the present, the blood of Christians continues to flow on numerous altars. All humankind is entangled in the Christians’ historical grievances. Therefore, we have the solemn historical responsibility to liberate God and Christianity, by inheriting this historical heart of suffering. (210:361, December 27, 1990)

It is not enough to go to church carrying your Bible and hymnal. You should know Jesus, who bled on God’s behalf, wept on God’s behalf, and shed sweat on God’s behalf. Therefore, the tradition of Christianity has been to win the world through self-sacrifice and martyrdom. It is the time-honored way that God has been seeking for lost humanity. (10:281, November 6, 1960)

Today Christianity should learn to digest the sufferings that lie ahead. We should be able to say, “Jesus courageously overcame the pain of the cross with the heart of God and blessed sinful humankind. Should we ever face that situation, may we have the same attitude as Jesus!” That is the crucial matter. (7:96, July 19, 1959)

Why could Christianity become a worldwide religion? More than any other religion, Christianity is compatible with God’s will and has inherited God’s internal heart. Christianity has correctly identified the core point of God’s providence and has cherished that content through the ages. God is a worldwide God, so it is reasonable that Christianity, by virtue of its love for God, would develop throughout the world.
    Do you know what is the core of God’s will? God professes love. Jesus proclaimed before heaven, earth and humanity that God is not the Lord of judgment but the Father of love. Christianity is the only religion that recognizes God as the loving Father. (God’s Will and the World, May 10, 1974)

Blessed Are You When Men Revile You

Revelation 11

9 For three and a half days the people of every nation, tribe, language, and race will stare at the bodies of these two witnesses and refuse to let them be buried. 10 Everyone on earth will celebrate and be happy. They will give gifts to each other, because of what happened to the two prophets who caused them so much trouble. 11 But three and a half days later, God will breathe life into their bodies. They will stand up, and everyone who sees them will be terrified.

Richard: Here, it appears that the enemy is winning. But then the “dead” witnesses” revive.

Psalm 17

I am innocent, Lord,
    and I will see your face!
    When I awake, all I want
    is to see you as you are.

Christianity

Christianity is Father Moon’s own religious heritage; hence he has more to say about it than any other religion. His main teachings concern the essence of the Christianity—its core tradition, the unity of the church, and Christianity’s mission to the world.
Following Christ’s example, the core tradition of Christianity is love and sacrifice. The Christian is not reluctant or afraid to take up his cross and suffer for the sake of God’s will, as Jesus did. Therefore, Christianity is not an easy or comfortable religion, but one that demands commitment, courage and conviction. Christian love is the second essential core tradition. Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies and forgive those who hurt them. The fellowship of Christians who practice the love of Christ is a beautiful thing.
However, because this love is practiced only imperfectly, and often does not extend to believers of other churches, the problem of disunity has plagued Christianity since its early days. placing doctrinal purity and denominational self-interest ahead of Christian love, churches have quarreled and persecuted one another, causing great damage to Christianity as a whole. Father Moon has dedicated himself to restoring church unity through the practice of reconciling love and a clarification of essential Christian truth.
Christianity has a worldwide mission, to save all humankind. For Father Moon, this is not only a matter of preaching the Gospel and converting the heathen. In today’s world of many religions, democratic values and the ethics of love and charity are Christianity’s contributions to elevating the level of all civilizations around the globe. Ultimately, the mission of the church is to prepare the way for God’s universal Kingdom on earth, based upon these values, which will be established when Christ returns.
The section concludes with a glimpse at Christian history, which can be viewed as a record of the church’s successes and failures in fulfilling its mission. It is a history that is mostly found wanting. The church has consistently failed when it has lived by the secular values of power, wealth and worldly authority. It has made progress when it returns to Christ’s tradition of sacrifice and the search for true freedom of faith. in the course of this history, God has attempted to establish a sovereign Christian civilization—first in the Middle ages through roman Catholicism, and today through Protestantism centered on the united states of America. Medieval civilization perished when the Vatican’s leaders were more intent to pursue power and worldly glory than to live by Jesus’ core tradition of love and sacrifice. America, as the current representative Christian nation with a calling to lead the world into the Kingdom, faces the same test.

1. The Core Traditions of Christianity: Love and Sacrifice

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
    Luke 14.27
 
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5.11-12
 
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
    Romans 5.3-5
 
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
    Tertullian, Apology
 
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
    Acts 2.42-47
 
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
    1 John 4.7-12
 
Love most of all brands us with a mark of blame in the eyes of some. “Look,” [the pagans] say, “how [these Christians] love one another”—for they themselves hate one another—“and how they are ready to die for one another”—for they themselves are readier to kill one another.
    Tertullian, Apology