The First World War Laid the Foundation for the Second Advent of the Messiah

View my latest video at the VisionRoot channel: The Emperor Has No Clothes; Stop the Madness and Lock Downs https://youtu.be/i9HCbM-bwtE.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 202

Originally, when God as the Parent
created Adam and Eve, He reaped the
benefit of having children. At the same
time, He enabled the children to ben-
efit by having parents. God’s hope was
to raise His children to perfection. Had
this happened, it would be possible to
say that God would have harvested both
Adam and Eve.
Then, why do we need parents and
why do we need children? God is spir-
itual and human beings are physical.
The parent-child relationship is also like
this.
The invisible God bears fruit through
the visible child and then enters into the
heart of the child to reveal His value as
the visible God. The invisible God bears
fruit within the child’s heart and the
fruit of the child is then produced. It is
possible to transfer the fruit of the father
to the child. And thus, for God, both His
fruit and the parent’s fruit are produced.
They have equal value.
Then, why are parents and children
needed? Even though God possesses
love, He needs a partner to share His
love. We as children also need a partner
to share our love. This partner relation-
ship between parents and children is like
the relationship of heaven and earth. It is
a vertical relationship.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1965

Lineage and ownership must be con-
verted to God’s side. Japan has inherited
Satan’s ownership. Adam must become
the master ahead of Satan. Before Adam
becomes the master, God must become
the owner. But God has not yet become
the owner. Adam has not become the
owner. In order to recover the owner-
ship that Eve lost, she must go out to the
world and put everything in order. That
is why ownership must be returned to
God’s side. In order to have that owner-
ship returned, it cannot be brought to
me directly. It must be brought through
my children, through Mother. It must be
done in reverse, the way it is done in res-
toration. (229-154, 1992.4.11)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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THE WORLD WARS

4.1 THE PROVIDENTIAL CAUSES OF THE WORLD WARS

Wars break out due to such factors as conflicts of political and economic interests and clashes of ideology. Yet these are merely external causes. There are also internal causes of wars, just as there are internal and external motives for every human action.

What are the internal, providential causes of the world wars? First, the world wars have resulted from Satan’s last desperate struggle to preserve his sovereignty.

Second, the three world wars have occurred in order to fulfill the worldwide indemnity conditions to restore the three great blessings.

Third, the three world wars have occurred so that all humanity may overcome on the world level the three temptations by which Satan tempted Jesus.

Fourth, the world wars have taken place to fulfill the worldwide indemnity condition to restore God’s sovereignty.

4.2 THE FIRST WORLD WAR

4.2.1 SUMMARY OF THE PROVIDENCE IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

In the political sphere, the First World War was a conflict between Abel-type democracies, which pursued the goal of the providence of restoration, and authoritarian states where Cain-type democratic ideals were thriving and which stood in opposition to the goals of the providence of restoration. It was fought between the imperialist nations on God’s side and the imperialist nations on Satan’s side. In the sphere of religion and ideology, the Cain-type nations included Turkey, a Muslim nation persecuting Christianity, and its allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary. They fought the Abel-type nations of Great Britain, the United States, France and Russia, which generally upheld Christianity. At the conclusion of the First World War, the Abel-type democracies had gained victory at the formation stage.

4.2.2 WHAT DECIDES GOD’S SIDE AND SATAN’S SIDE?

The question of which nations are on God’s side and which are on Satan’s side is decided based on the direction of God’s providence of restoration. Those who are in line with the direction of God’s providence or are acting in concert with that direction, even indirectly, are on the side of God, while those who take an opposing position are on the side of Satan.

In the First World War, the Allied Powers led by Great Britain, the United States, France and Russia were Christian nations; moreover, they had been fighting to liberate the Christians under persecution in Turkey. Thus, they stood on God’s side. On the other hand, Germany and Austria-Hungary, the leading Central Powers, supported Turkey, a Muslim nation which persecuted Christianity. Therefore, together with Turkey, they stood on Satan’s side.

4.2.3 THE PROVIDENTIAL CAUSES BEHIND THE FIRST WORLD WAR

What were the providential, internal causes of the First World War? The First World War had to take place, first, to fulfill the worldwide indemnity condition to restore God’s three great blessings at the formation stage. Second, the First World War took place in order to have people on God’s side collectively overcome Jesus’ first temptation on the world level. Third, the First World War took place in order to lay the formation-stage foundation for the restoration of God’s sovereignty.

4.2.4 THE PROVIDENTIAL RESULTS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The victory of the Allied Powers in the First World War fulfilled the formation-stage indemnity condition to restore God’s three great blessings worldwide. By overcoming Jesus’ first temptation on the worldwide level, they fulfilled the indemnity condition to restore God’s first blessing worldwide. The victory of democracy also established the formation-stage foundation for the restoration of God’s sovereignty and laid the foundation for the birth of the returning Christ, who is destined to be the Lord of God’s world.

In conclusion, with the victory of God’s side in the First World War, the foundation was laid for the Second Advent of the Messiah. From that time, the formation stage of the dispensation of the Second Advent commenced.

View slides 56 to 80 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

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The Original Nature Not Only Pursues External Values; It Also Seeks Internal Values

View my latest video at the VisionRoot channel: The Emperor Has No Clothes; Stop the Madness and Lock Downs : https://youtu.be/i9HCbM-bwtE.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2325

Eve’s fall was due to her failure to
pursue absolute faith and absolute love.
Thus, the principle of restoration through
indemnity dictates single-hearted devo-
tion of one mindset for the sake of God
to restore absolute faith and absolute
love based on conscience. Everything in
the world goes against God, and so we
need to cut ourselves off from and deny
them absolutely. (275-30, 1995.10.30)

Richard: Yes, very true. The failure of Christians to understand this point clearly from the Divine Principle viewpoint is causing the world to suffer, since there is not an effective response to the push for relaxed sexual mores and homosexuality.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1348

After the Blessing of the 124 Couples,
I conducted a special dedication ceremo-
ny. Christ at his Second Advent comes as
the resurrected substantial being with
the mission of establishing the founda-
tions on levels of the individual, family,
tribe, and people – the work of God that
remained incomplete at the time of Jesus.
I carried out this work over the past three
years. This period corresponds to that
of restoring children (vertical period).
During this period, I was called as the
resurrected substantial being in order to
fulfill this mission, just as Jesus intended
to save the followers of Judaism and the
Jewish people. (13-11, 1963.9.12)

Richard: To find the nature of the millennial Kingdom that is here and expanding, we first need to understand God’s purpose of creation described in Genesis 1:28, and much more clearly in the Divine Principle, Principle of Creation.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS AND IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICTS (1648-1789)

The period of religious and ideological conflicts refers to the 140 years beginning with the secure establishment of Protestantism at the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 and ending with the French Revolution in 1789. As modern people continued to pursue the internal and external desires flowing from their original nature, they could not avoid divisions in theology and disputes among philosophies which arose as they exercised freedom of faith and thought.  For this to happen, the two views of life which would later mature into these two worlds had to be developed in this period.

2.1 THE CAIN-TYPE VIEW OF LIFE

 The pursuit of the external aspects of the original nature first aroused a movement to revive the ancient heritage of Hellenism and gave birth to the humanism of the Renaissance. Renaissance humanism opposed medieval culture by elevating the dignity of human beings and the value of the natural world over devotion to God and religious dedication. The medieval mind had prized obedience to God while belittling the natural world and regarding the human body as base and even sinful. The Renaissance established a new perspective on life, one which exalted the value of human beings and nature and sought to understand them through reason and experience, logic and experiment. Spurred by the progress of natural science, this view of life gave rise to two major schools of modern philosophy: rationalism, based on the deductive method and empiricism, based on the inductive method.

The Renaissance launched these two currents of thought, which were rooted in humanism. Instead of facilitating the internal inclination to seek God, it gave birth to a view of life which encouraged people to follow only external pursuits. This blocked their path to God and led them toward Satan’s realm. For this reason, it is called the Cain-type view of life.  In this way, the Cain-type view of life, which budded after the Renaissance and grew through the Enlightenment into atheism and materialism, matured into the godless ideology of Marxism, which became the cornerstone of the communist world of today.

2.2 THE ABEL-TYPE VIEW OF LIFE

The original nature, however, not only pursues external values; it also seeks internal values. As medieval people were prompted by their original nature to pursue internal values, a movement arose to revive Hebraism which bore fruit in the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation spawned philosophies and religious teachings which developed a multi-dimensional view of life seeking to realize the God-given, original nature of human beings. We call this the Abel-type view of life. Even as the Cain-type view of life led away from God and faith, the Abel-type view of life guided modern people to seek God in a deeper and more thoughtful way. The Abel-type view of life was maturing to form the democratic world of today.

THE PERIOD OF MATURATION OF POLITICS, ECONOMY AND IDEOLOGY (1789-1918)

            At the outset of this new period—the period of maturation of politics, economy and ideology—the two views of life matured, taking their separate paths. As they matured, they founded two different forms of society with distinct social structures: a Cain-type society and an Abel-type society. This period lasted from the French Revolution, through the Industrial Revolution, to the end of the First World War.

3.1 DEMOCRACY

3.1.1 CAIN-TYPE DEMOCRACY

Those espousing the Cain-type view of life championed the Enlightenment and gave rise to the French Revolution, thus establishing Cain-type democracy. It completely blocked the inclination of the human spirit to seek for God. As it continued to develop with its sole focus on the external aspects of life, it would later be systematized into Marxism in Germany and Leninism in Russia, eventually forming the communist world.

3.1.2 ABEL-TYPE DEMOCRACY

From their very origins, the democracies which emerged in England and the United States were different from the democracy born out of the French Revolution. The latter was a Cain-type democracy founded by atheists and materialists, who were raised in the Cain-type view of life, as they attempted to dismantle absolutism and feudalism. The English and American democracies, on the other hand, were founded by sincere Christians, the fruits of the Abel-type view of life, and were born out of their victorious fight with absolutism to win religious freedom. Hence, these are Abel-type democracies.

Although there were external causes of these English revolutions, such as the citizens’ desire for political freedom from the ruling class including the nobility and the Anglican priesthood, the more internal cause was the drive to gain religious freedom.

Many Puritans and dissenting Christians who had been persecuted in England emigrated to the American continent to obtain religious freedom. They founded an independent nation in 1776 and established American democracy. Born out of the Abel-type view of life, Abel-type democracy has developed from these beginnings into the democratic world of today.

View slides 20 to 37 below for an illustrated presentation of the above contents:

2007p2-CHAPT-5-PrepPeriod-forSecond-Advent_revised-4-28-2014

Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universally Shared Values Will be Realized in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

View my latest video at the VisionRoot channel: Can You Trust the CDC and the World Health Organization on Covid-19? Evidence from the DTP Vaccine and H1N1 “pandemic” https://youtu.be/1np0IMw97fk.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1511

God is the vertical parent who has
true love for humankind. There is only
one such vertical and perpendicular
relationship. It is absolute. There cannot
be two such relationships. If the verti-
cal Parent were left standing alone, He
would collapse. Therefore, the horizon-
tal parents need to be found and con-
nected to the vertical Parent. To go into
more detail, the Creator is the verti-
cal Parent of true love, and the created
Adam and Eve are in the position of His
children, as well as the horizontal par-
ents. Adam and Eve are His substantial
embodiments. When they are giving
and receiving at the place where they
resonate together in union, a central
point comes into existence and the cen-
ter of that couple’s realm of resonance is
established. This is the origin of life from
which you were born. (183-40, 1988.10.29)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1474

God created humankind for the sake
of love. Why were human beings creat-
ed? They were created because of love.
The reason human beings are different
from other forms of creation is that they
were created as God’s sons and daugh-
ters. They were created as object part-
ners who can receive love directly from
Him. Such is the privilege of human-
kind. (132-245, 1984.6.20)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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7.2.5 MONARCHIC SOCIETY AND IMPERIALISM

With the progress of history, feudalistic society developed into monarchic society.  In the sphere of religion, monarchic Christianity, which followed feudalistic Christianity, was a spiritual kingdom which transcended national borders.  Absolute monarchies flourished until the French Revolution in 1789.  In the progress of economic history, feudalism was followed by capitalism, which was accompanied by the age of colonial expansion.

7.2.6 DEMOCRACY AND SOCIALISM

The age of monarchy gave way to the age of democracy. We recall that the purpose of monarchic society was to construct a kingdom which could support the Messiah and his reign. When this dispensation was not accomplished during the Christian empire, however, God began a process that would eventually tear down monarchic societies and raise up democracies in their place in order to commence a new providence for rebuilding a sovereign nation fit to receive the Messiah.

The democratic movements which rose against the absolute monarchies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave rise to revolutions in England, America and France. These revolutions destroyed monarchic societies and gave birth to today’s democratic societies.

The progress of history in the religious sphere moved to the stage of democratic Christianity after monarchic Christianity was shattered by the Protestant Reformation of 1517.

The progress of history in the religious sphere moved to the stage of democratic Christianity after monarchic Christianity was shattered by the Protestant Reformation of 1517. Similarly, with the progress of economic history, socialist ideals arose which undermined imperialism and fostered a democratic form of economy.

7.2.7 THE IDEALS OF INTERDEPENDENCE, MUTUAL PROSPERITY AND UNIVERSALLY SHARED VALUES VERSUS COMMUNISM

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. Since Satan mimics God’s providence in advance, the satanic side has advocated “scientific socialism” based on the theories of dialectical and historical materialism and has built the communist world

For the paths of religion, politics and economy to converge and realize God’s ideal, a new expression of truth must emerge which can completely integrate religion and science. The religion founded upon this truth will lead all of humanity to become one with God in heart. Such people will build an economy in accordance with the divine ideal. These will be the foundations for a new political order which can realize the ideal of creation. This will be the messianic kingdom built on the principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values.

View slides 104 to 117 below for an illustrated presentation of the above contents:

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Even Amidst the Vortex of Good and Evil, Reject Evil and Promote Goodness

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1990

To achieve His will, God does not
choose and use something twice. If
America were removed, however, the
cultural spheres of the Unification
Church and Christianity, and the Uni-
fication Church and Judaism would
be separated. That is why I reluctant-
ly chose America. The reason I have
to go and fight in America is because I
chose America, and in order to make
up for America’s failure, I brought along
Japan, the Eve nation. Adam’s sin that
was sown bore fruit in the world. This
must all be ruthlessly cast away. Origi-
nally there was God, Adam and Eve, and
the three archangels. Considering this,
Korea is the Adam nation, and Japan the
Eve nation. That is why we have cross-
cultural “exchange” marriages. Adam
and Eve married on their own. As a con-
sequence, the world of death was creat-
ed. However, the second generation of
the Korean people and Japanese people
must come into a cross-cultural mar-
riage. Let the government oppose us if it
wishes. (197-269, 1990.1.19)

Richard: Thank you Rev. Moon for choosing America again, and for your victorious work for the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1189

As God carried out the dispensa-
tion for restoration, His grief lay in the
fact that the firstborn son was on Satan’s
side. That is why human history is dis-
eased. What kind of disease does it suf-
fer from? It has a love related disease. The
first son was born after humankind went
astray due to the disease of love. If we are
not aware of this fact, we won’t reach the
time when we are able to ascend to the
individual position where we can again
achieve harmony, even if we spend bil-
lions of years in search of the principled
standard. (136-126, 1985.12.22)

Richard: Right now, most everyone is concerned about the Covid-19 virus. Yet, all humankind has a much more fundamental disease. The first human ancestors, Adam and Eve fell, introducing this disease and passing it on from generation to generation. Yet, most are not even aware of this mortifying situation. See here: https://inspiration.visionroot.org/2020/01/31/no-one-has-known-the-root-of-sin/
and here: https://inspiration.visionroot.org/2020/02/01/there-is-no-freedom-without-responsibility/
for the Divine Principle study on the Fall of Man.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION AND THE PROGRESS OF HISTORY

 The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is a society whose structure is formed in the image of a perfect person. Likewise, fallen society may be regarded as formed in the likeness of a fallen person. We can better understand the history of societies built by sinful humanity by examining the inner life of a fallen person. Since human society is composed of individuals who are constantly at war within themselves, interactions among them cannot help but be full of discord and conflict. Human history has consisted of people’s conflict-ridden social relationships constantly changing with the course of time. Hence, it has necessarily unfolded in strife and warfare.

Progress in history originates with individuals who, even amidst the vortex of good and evil, make determined efforts to reject evil and promote goodness. Therefore, the world toward which history is progressing is the Kingdom of Heaven, where the goal of goodness will be realized.

Meanwhile, on the basis of his relationship of blood ties with the first human beings, Satan has worked through fallen people to realize, in advance of God, a perverted form of the ideal society which God intends to realize. As a result, in human history we witness the rise of unprincipled societies which are built upon twisted versions of the Principle. At the end of human history, before God can restore the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, Satan will have built an unprincipled world in a distorted image of the Kingdom: this is none other than the communist world.

7.1 THE PROGRESS OF HISTORY IN THE AGE OF THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION

 Some historians have held that the first society built by fallen people was a primitive collective society. Due to the activity of the original mind calling people to respond to God’s providence of restoration, divisions between relative good and evil surely arose in primitive societies under satanic sovereignty.

God called Abraham out of the sinful world to be the standard-bearer of goodness and blessed him with descendants who would uphold the Will of God. God raised up Abraham’s descendants into the first Israelite clan society. They entered Egypt as a clan society, but by the time they left Egypt for Canaan, they had grown into a tribal society. Israelite society in the period of the judges was a feudalistic society.

The providential purpose of the feudalistic society of early Israel was to lay a foundation for the establishment of a monarchic society with greater territory and more powerful sovereignty. The monarchic society amalgamated the smaller units of political and economic sovereignty secured by the earlier feudalistic society into a single territory with a large population, a strong economy and a well-defended sovereignty. This was done with the establishment of the united kingdom of Israel founded by King Saul. Jesus was to come as the King of Kings. God built the monarchic society in Israel to prepare a strong enough foundation for him to come as the Messiah and rule as King of Kings.

After the fall of Judah, God kept the throne of Israel vacant and put the Jewish people under the control of successive gentile empires for most of the period leading up to the coming of the Messiah. Most notably, God placed them in the Hellenistic cultural sphere, which laid the ideological framework for democracy. God fashioned Israel’s society in the form of democracy in order that when the Messiah came, he could be hailed as their king by the will of the people, who should have welcomed him wholeheartedly. However, the Jewish public did not so elevate Jesus. Without public support, he was crucified. Consequently, at the consummation of the providence which had begun two thousand years earlier with the calling of Abraham and his descendants out of the sinful world, its purpose was attained only spiritually.

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Since the Papacy and the Church Did Not Repent, God Chastised Them

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2165

Do you people want to make a dif-
ference individually? Do you want to
influence things as a family? Nationally?
Globally? How do you want to make a
difference? You would like to make a dif-
ference globally, wouldn’t you? Howev-
er, if you want to rise to the global stage,
you will not be able to do that on your
own. You will need a nation. I am asking
you if you have your nation.

So we eat, we sleep for the sake of
that nation, day and night for the cause
of the nation. Do you understand that
you have to live your life pledging before
heaven and earth that this is the reason
you were born? When you are sleeping,
you have got to imagine that you have
gathered together all the beds of mil-
lions of people around the world and
that you are sleeping there positioned on
the top. Even when you look at a dinner
table, you have got to have that kind of
thought. Wherever you go, you have got
to think that you are not sitting alone,
but that all the difference races of the
world are gathered together, piled up
together, and that you have climbed to
the top and are sitting on your seat there.
The sons of heaven have to do things like
that.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1518

The love of a mother and father can
be said to be the flower that represents
all men and women of the world, at the
same time giving out fragrance and
standing in the position of their fruit.
They are the representatives. The moth-
er and father represent the women and
men of the world. Then who do their
sons and daughters represent? They rep-
resent future generations of descendants
who will become the billions of people
that make up humankind. Therefore,
the mother, father and child need to
unite through God’s love, and exercise a
love where those above live for the sake
of those below them, and vice versa. It
does not mean living for oneself. From
the perspective of the original nature of
God’s creation, it is living for the sake of
others. (214-270, 1991.2.3)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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THE PERIOD OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE PERIOD OF THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE

When the period of the judges came to a close and the First Israel entered the period of the united kingdom, the functions of the judge were apportioned to the offices of prophet, priest and king. The prophets received instructions directly from God, the priests kept charge over the Tabernacle and later the Temple, and the king governed the nation. Each carried on their distinct missions in guiding Israel to accomplish the goal of the providence of restoration. The purpose of the period of the Christian empire was to restore the period of the united kingdom through parallel indemnity conditions. Thus, when the period of regional church leadership came to a close, the missions of these leaders were apportioned to the offices of monastic leaders corresponding to the prophets, the pope corresponding to the high priest, and the emperor, who ruled the people. They were responsible to guide the Second Israel to accomplish the goal of the providence of restoration.

About eight hundred years after Abraham’s descendants entered Egypt, by God’s command the prophet Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. King Saul stood upon the foundation of the four hundred years under the judges. Had he completed the forty years of his reign in accordance with God’s desires, he would have stood in the position of having restored through indemnity the four hundred years of slavery in Egypt and Moses’ forty years in the Pharaoh’s palace. Thereupon, King Saul would have fulfilled the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and laid the foundation of faith.

However, because King Saul disobeyed the commands of God given through the prophet Samuel, he was in no position to build the Temple.  As was the case with Moses, the providence of restoration through King Saul was extended. Forty years of King David’s reign and forty years of King Solomon’s reign would pass before the foundation of faith was laid and the Temple built.  Nevertheless, King Solomon left the position of Abel for the substantial offering when he fell into lust with his many foreign wives, who turned him away from God. Hence, there was no way for Israel to establish the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah, which should have been laid in the period of the united kingdom, was not realized.

Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne and blessed him as the first emperor of Christendom in 800 A.D. Charlemagne stood upon the foundation of the four-hundred-year period of regional church leadership, which restored through indemnity, in the form of substantial parallels, the four-hundred-year period of the judges. Therefore, like King Saul, he stood upon the foundation of a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. By faithfully living according to the teachings of Jesus in his work to realize the Christian ideal of the state, he was to establish the foundation of faith. Indeed, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor, he achieved this foundation. However, the emperor did not remain obedient to God’s Will and left the position of Abel for the substantial offering. Neither the foundation of substance nor the foundation for the Second Advent of the Messiah was established.

THE PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF NORTH AND SOUTH AND THE PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF EAST AND WEST

Because King Solomon was led by his wives and concubines to worship idols, the united kingdom of Israel was divided upon his death, having lasted only three generations.10 The kingdom of Israel in the north, which was founded by ten of the twelve tribes, was in the position of Cain, while the kingdom of Judah in the south, which was founded by the two remaining tribes, was in the position of Abel. This was how the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south began. The Christian empire also began to divide in the third generation. Charlemagne’s grandsons partitioned it into three kingdoms: the East Franks, the West Franks and Italy. The descendants of Charlemagne were in bitter and constant conflict with each other. The remnants of the Christian empire soon coalesced into two kingdoms, with Italy reverting to the rule of the East Franks. The kingdom of the East Franks came to be called the Holy Roman Empire. he Holy Roman Empire stood in the position of Abel in relation to France, as the kingdom of the West Franks came to be called.

In the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, whenever the Israelites violated their covenant with God, straying from the ideal of the Temple, God sent many prophets—such as Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah—to admonish them and move them to repentance and internal reform. However, because the kings and the people did not heed the warnings of the prophets and did not repent, God chastised them externally by sending gentile nations such as Syria, Assyria and Babylon to attack them. During the parallel period of the divided kingdoms of east and west, the papacy was corrupt. God sent prominent monks such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi to admonish the papacy and promote internal reform in the Church. Since the papacy and the Church did not repent, but sank further into corruption and immorality, God chastised them externally by letting their people fight the Muslims. This was the providential reason behind the Crusades.

The period of the divided kingdoms of north and south came to an end when gentile nations took the people of Israel and Judah into exile. They put an end to the monarchy in Israel. Likewise, at the close of the period of the divided kingdoms of east and west, the papacy had completely lost its prestige and credibility after the repeated defeats of the Crusades. Christianity thus lost its center of spiritual sovereignty. Moreover, since the lords and knights who had maintained feudal society were decimated by the Crusades, feudal society lost its political power and vigor. Since the papacy and the feudal lords had spent enormous funds to pursue these unsuccessful wars, they were left impoverished. Monarchic Christianity began to erode.

View slides 26 to 51 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

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