Category: Eight Great Textbooks

Our Father Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices. Interviews with Charles Robert Sheedy-Republican for Governor, William J. R. Keplinger-Democrat for Commissioner of Agriculture and Jody Murphy-Democrat for Governor were added on May 20, 2020.

2 Timothy 4

6 Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. 7 I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. 8 So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.

Richard: We need to speak the truth, no matter what. View my series on The Great Fraud: The COVID-19 Agenda at my blog. You can also search for the Richard Urban Show on you favorite podcast player.

Psalm 68

Our Lord and our God,
    Bashan is a mighty mountain
    covered with peaks.
16 Why is it jealous of Zion,
    the mountain you chose
    as your home forever?

17 When you, Lord God, appeared
    to your people[c] at Sinai,
    you came with thousands
    of mighty chariots.
18 When you climbed
    the high mountain,
    you took prisoners with you
    and were given gifts.
Your enemies didn’t want you
to live there,
    but they gave you gifts.

19 We praise you, Lord God!
You treat us with kindness
    day after day,
    and you rescue us.
20 You always protect us
    and save us from death.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

Heavenly Father and Mother

The Absolute Being relates to human beings as parent to child. The Jewish and Christian scriptures call God our Heavenly Father; in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha is called “Father of the World.” In some traditions the Absolute Being is also identified as the Divine Mother. Even religions that customarily employ patriarchal imagery for God also describe a motherly aspect: God as Nurturer, Fount of compassion and Sustainer. “There is something in the nature of God that corresponds to our maleness and our femaleness,” remarks Bishop Desmond Tutu. God’s fatherhood and motherhood may be identified with heaven and earth, cooperating to create and nurture all living things.
God’s parental role is not limited to the act of creation; it is an enduring affective relationship of the heart. Love reveals God’s parental aspect better than anything. Even Islam, which avoids describing God as a divine father, in light of its strong rejection of polytheism in which gods physically procreate, includes traditions that describe God’s love by analogy to a father’s love for his son.
Love is central to Father Moon’s teaching about the parenthood of God: “The relationship of the Father and His children is the foundation of the universe.” Elaborating, he teaches that we can and should establish a genuinely filial relationship to God, attending Him and sharing His heart. God, for His part, is ever searching for children who can meet Him in that intimate embrace.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name.
Matthew 6.9

You men are all my children,
And I am your Father.
For age upon age, you
Have been scorched by multitudinous woes,
And I have saved you all.
Lotus Sutra 3 (Buddhism)

The Great Principle, the Divine, is my womb;
I cast the seed into it;
There is the origin of all creatures.
Whatever forms originate in any wombs
The real womb is the Divine, the Great
Principle.
I am the Father that gives the seed.
Bhagavad-Gita 14.4 (Hinduism)

Thou art Father, Mother, Friend, Brother.
With Thee as succorer in all places, what fear
have I?
Adi Granth, Majh M.5, p. 103 (Sikhism)

For God, people of the whole world are all my
children. All of you equally must understand
that I am your Parent.
The daily concern of the Parent is single-
heartedly how best I can advance arrangements
to save all of you.
Ofudesaki 4.79; 14.35 (Tenrikyo)

Our Father, it is thy universe, it is thy will,
Let us be at peace, let the souls of the people
be cool.
Thou art our Father; remove all evil from our
path.
Nuer Prayer (African Traditional Religions)
Heaven and Earth are the father and mother of
the ten thousand things.
People are the sensibility of the ten thousand
things.
Book of History 5.1.1: The Great Declaration
(Confucianism)

What man of you, if his son asks him for bread,
will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will
give him a serpent? If you, then, who are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in
heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7.10-11

Once a man came to the Messenger with his
son. The Messenger embraced they boy and
said, “Do you have mercy upon him?” The father
said, “Yes.” Then the Messenger replied, “Allah
is more merciful upon him than you.”
Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)
Do you thus requite the lord ,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?…
He found him in a desert land,
in the howling waste of the wilderness;
He encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
Spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
The lord alone did lead him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
Deuteronomy 32.6-12

All ye under heaven! Regard heaven as your
father, earth as your mother, and all things as
your brothers and sisters.
Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta (Shinto)
Mother Earth, have pity on us and give us food
to eat!
Father Sun, bless all our children and may our
paths be straight!
Blackfoot Prayer (Native American Religions)
That breast of Thine which is inexhaustible,
health-giving,
by which thou nursest all that is noble,
containing treasure, bearing wealth, bestowed
freely;
lay that bare, O Divine Mother, for our
nurture.
Rig Veda 1.164.49 (Hinduism)

As one whom his mother comforts,
so will I comfort you;
You shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66.13
O Mother of Imupa, advocate for the whole
world!
What a remarkable Mother I have!
O Mother, a pillar, a refuge!
O Mother, to whom all prostrate in greeting
Before one enters her habitation!
I am justly proud of my Mother.
O Mother who arrives,
Who arrives majestic and offers water to all!
Yoruba Prayer (African Traditional Religions)

God Created the Universe with Absolute Faith, Absolute Love and Absolute Obedience

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices. An interview with Dave Miller (for WV Commissioner of Agriculture) was added on May 19th.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1854

We are raising many species of par-
rots on our Jardim farm. Parrots can
live together with people naturally. The
ostriches frequently come to us because
we give them food. They have become so
close to the people now that they do not
run away even when someone approach-
es them with food. I am thinking of cre-
ating a world where Adam can mingle
together with creation, just like the time
when God was happy to gaze upon His
creation. That is what I am doing now.
(278-103, 1996.5.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1093

You are all historical reincarnations,
wearing the faces of your ancestors.
How long is this history? It is known to
be hundreds of thousands of years old.
The long course of history was intended
to eventually create one person, yourself.
In order to create one such person, for
example, from the Kim family, countless
ancestors came and went. Therefore, we
are the fruits of human history. (46-154,
1971.8.13)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

3. The Work of Creation Required Love and Sacrifice

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God established living for the sake of others as the basic principle of creation. What does this mean? Suppose we take a volume of air where pressure is evenly distributed and create a vacuum in one place. The more the air pressure in that area approaches a vacuum, the faster the high-pressure air will rotate around the area of low pressure. Do you understand what I mean? When God has invested Himself over and over again in search of His objects of love, He can simply remain in His place and everything will naturally come back to Him. This is also the logical basis upon which God created all creatures in a pair system. (199:276, February 20, 1990)

Which comes first, life or love? Love comes first. Although our planet Earth came into being from God’s life, we do not hold that life comes first; rather, we declare that love is first. Why? Although God began the creation of heaven and earth with life, the source of life and the motive for life is love. The reason life came into being is because of love. Why did God create heaven and earth? Although He is the Absolute Being, God cannot feel joy as long as He is alone. Although He might sense it, He cannot experience its stimulation; this is why He created. God may say, “I am the Absolute Being, the Master of love and Master of life!” yet as long as He remains solitary, He cannot feel love’s stimulation. He cannot feel the stimulation of life, the experience that all of heaven and earth are within Him. (38:152, January 3, 1971)

When God created each thing, He invested energy. Investing energy is to deplete oneself. Though God is omniscient and almighty, if He were to give out all His energy with nothing returning to Him, then God would be depleted. If you engage in strenuous labor right after eating breakfast, you quickly become hungry and tired. Why? Investing energy is a negative for the subject partner. No one likes to suffer loss all the time. Enjoyment comes when there is a positive return on the investment. God created all things in the heavens and the earth for enjoyment, not so that He could weep or be sorrowful. Hence, something must return to God as a positive benefit… Then, when does God receive a positive benefit? This is the measure of perfection in created beings. A being can be said to have reached perfection at the point when God begins to receive a return on His investment. Isn’t this the case in business? We plan to invest a certain amount, expecting that after a certain point we will begin to realize profits. Or when we study, we think that after putting in a certain number of hours we will be adequately prepared to pass the exam. This is true with everything; it is a universal law. When we have a desire, if we work hard and challenge our limit to reach a goal, then we can cross the finish line and receive something in return. The same is true with God. What did He expect to gain by creating human beings? In creating them He invested His energy and consumed something of Himself. God spent everything possible for our sake. Yet there is no loss; once we become perfect, there is a return. We should understand this basic rule. If 100 units were invested but the return was valued at less than 100 units, God would not have continued His work of creation. The return should be 110, 200, or 300 units, something valued more than the 100 units invested. Even better, the return should be unlimited. When this happens, God experiences joy even as He invests. Considering this, we conclude that the return should be something with a higher dimension of value. What form would it take? What, when it returns, gives joy? The answer is love. (65:22-23, November 13, 1972)

If God had thought only of Himself, would He have created heaven and earth? To create means to invest energy. The cherished desire of an artist is to create a masterpiece. To do this, the artist will invest all of his heart and soul. He will want to reach the point where he cannot do anything more. Only by thus investing himself completely can he create the perfect masterpiece. (78:111, May 6, 1975)

God created the universe, first, with absolute faith. Second, He created with absolute love, cherishing each creation as His beloved object partner. Third, God created with absolute obedience, which means that He totally emptied Himself. God gave His total investment, forgetting what He had given and repeatedly giving still more. He gave up even any concept [that something might come of what He had given].After thus emptying Himself, God reached the zero point. Since He had invested all of His absolute faith, God reached the zero point. Since He had invested all of Himself with absolute love, in total obedience to the principle of love, God reached the zero point. (313:114-15)

From His Mind Was Born the Moon, and From His Eye the Sun

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices. A new interview with Richie Robb (for US Senate) was added on May 18th.

John 6

26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,[g] but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”
Richard: Here we see clearly that Jesus wanted the (Jewish) people to believe in him, not crucify him. See The Messiah: His Advent and the Purpose of His Coming

Pslam 81

81 Be happy and shout to God
    who makes us strong!
    Shout praises to the God
    of Jacob.
2 Sing as you play tambourines
    and the lovely sounding
    stringed instruments.
3 Sound the trumpets and start
    the New Moon Festival.[b]
    We must also celebrate
    when the moon is full.
4 This is the law in Israel,
    and it was given to us
    by the God of Jacob.
5 The descendants of Joseph
    were told to obey it,
    when God led them out
    from the land of Egypt.

In a language unknown to me,
    I heard someone say:
6 “I lifted the burden
    from your shoulder
    and took the heavy basket
    from your hands.
7 When you were in trouble,
    I rescued you,
    and from the thunderclouds,
    I answered your prayers.
    Later I tested you
    at Meribah Spring.[c]

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

3. The Work of Creation Required Love and Sacrifice

The spirit of the valley never dies.
It is called the subtle and profound female.
The gate of the subtle and profound female
Is the root of heaven and earth.
It is continuous, and seems to be always existing.
Use it and you will never wear it out.
Tao Te Ching 6 (Taoism)

At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose
protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?

There was no death then, nor yet
deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own
impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.

Darkness was there, all wrapped around by
darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the void, that One,
emerging,
stirring, through the power of ardor (tapas),
came to be.

In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with
wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in
Nonbeing.

A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.
Rig Veda 10.129 (Hinduism)

When with the Supreme Being as the offering
the gods performed a sacrifice,
spring was the molten butter, summer
the fuel, and autumn the oblation.

On the grass they besprinkled him,
the Sacrificed Supreme Being, the first born.
With him the gods sacrificed,
and those Sadhyas and the sages.

From that sacrifice, fully offered,
was gathered mixed milk and butter.
And the birds of the air arose,
the forest animals and the domestic.
From that sacrifice, fully offered,

the Rig and the Saman Vedas were born,
the Chandas [Atharva Veda] was born of that,
and from that were born the Yajur Vedas.

From that were born horses, and the
animals with two rows of teeth;
yea, kine were born of that, and
of that were born the goat and the sheep…

From his mind was born the moon, and
from his eye the sun. From his mouth
were Indra and Agni born,
and Vayu (wind) was born from his breath.

From his navel came the mid-air,
from his head the sky was fashioned,
from his feet the earth, and from his ear
the quarters. Thus they formed the worlds. 35
Rig Veda 10.90.6-10, 13-14 (Hinduism)

No Work of Art Can Compare With the Human Body

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2228

I shouldered the nation. On that
path, you are meritorious subjects. For
that reason, you have to understand that
we are treading the path in order to pave
the way of the filial child, the virtuous
woman, and the loyal subject. This is the
mission of the tribal messiah. The posi-
tion of the filial son is in relation to his
family, the virtuous woman’s position
is in relation to her couple, and the loy-
al subject or patriot’s position is that of
the parents representing the country. By
becoming loyal subjects, patriots, you
will represent the position of parents by
being connected with the nation. (220-153,
1991.10.16)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1569

We have now conquered the summit
of this world of death and entered the era
when we can come into contact with the
heavenly realm. We are aware that a new
era centered exclusively on the heavenly
spirit world can only begin in the provi-
dential time when the spirit world can
communicate on an equal basis with
the physical world. This requires a foun-
dation of unity of all the tribes of the
Unification Church members. Please,
Heavenly Father, be with Heung-jin in
his endeavors and devotion in bringing
together good men and women, kings
and patriots representing the sovereign-
ties of the 120 nations, educating them
to fulfill their duties of loyalty and filial
piety to you. In this way, heavenly law in
the spiritual and physical worlds can be
established. Amen! (196-257, 1990.1.2)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

2. The Creation of Human Beings

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2.7

We created man of an extraction of clay, then We set him, a drop, in a receptacle secure,
then We created of the drop a clot
then We created of the clot a tissue
then We created of the tissue bones
then We garmented the bones in flesh;
thereafter We produced him as another creature. So blessed be God, the fairest of creators!
Qur’an 23.14

Creating the universe himself, He has remained unattached.
The compassionate Lord too has made the holy center [the human being]. Combining air, water, and fire, He created the citadel of the body.
The Creator fashioned the Nine Abodes [of sensation];
In the Tenth is lodged the Lord, unknowable, limitless.

The illimitable Lord in His unattributed state of void assumed might;
He, the infinite One, remaining detached:
Displaying His power, He himself from the void created inanimate things. From the unattributed void were created air and water.

Raising creation, He dwells as monarch in the citadel of the body.
Lord! In the fire and water [of the body] exists Thy light;
In Thy state of void was lodged the power of creation.
Adi Granth, Maru Sohale, M.1, p. 1037 (Sikhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God first made the soil and then used it to create human beings. God created the universe by this principle, forming the internal on the basis of the external. From existing beings, God seeks to create greater beings. Creation is thus a process from things of lesser value to things of greater value. Likewise, in the creation of humans, God created first the body and then the spirit. (152:319-20, August 18, 1963)

Investing all His heart and mind, God formed the human body out of dust as the dwelling-place of the eternal spirit, where it is to live and grow. No work of art, however beautiful, can compare with the human body. God did not create it thoughtlessly, saying, “Hey, get up!” Rather, God invested all of His heart and mind into forming it. Then He completed the human being by breathing a living spirit into it. (8:80, November 8, 1959)

God’s purpose in creating human beings was to rejoice with them… However, 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. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 1.1)

What if God had placed our eyes on our feet, or our mouth on the back of the head? God gave much thought to the human body’s design. The mouth is where it is on the face so the two eyes can watch what we put into it and the hands can best function to feed it. Suppose your eyes were in the back of your head; your mouth might bite your finger and they wouldn’t see it happening, and you would lose a finger! You have to admit that God is truly the master scientist!
Everyone has little valleys on either side of their mouths, so that when they perspire the sweat doesn’t run into their mouths. If the mouth were set deeper into the face then you would constantly have to blow away your sweat, but you don’t have to because God prepared better contours for your face. What a mess it would be on a rainy day if your nose were set upside down!

Think about it: everything about you is well made, from the hair inside your nose to your teeth. Everything has its role in the order of the body… Is God’s thinking random or confused? No, the universe follows His order and logic. (104:207-08, May 6, 1979)

God Totally Invested Himself in the Work of Creation

In 2020 in West Virginia we elect the Governor, one US Senator, the Commissioner of Agriculture and three of five Supreme Court of Appeals Justices. We will also elect School Board members, delegates, state senators, sheriffs and more. Especially in light of the many intrusions on constitutional rights now taking place, it will be important to choose wisely on June 9th, 2020 in the primary election and in November. Remember that the Supreme Court of Appeals, School Board members and Magistrates are chosen in the June election only. View the candidate interviews so that you can make informed choices.

Matthew 12

18 “Here is my chosen servant!
I love him,
    and he pleases me.
I will give him my Spirit,
and he will bring justice
    to the nations.
19 He won’t shout or yell
    or call out in the streets.
20 He won’t break off a bent reed
    or put out a dying flame,
but he will make sure
    that justice is done.
21 All nations will place
    their hope in him.”

Ezra 9

8 But for now, Lord God, you have shown great kindness to us. You made us truly happy by letting some of us settle in this sacred place and by helping us in our time of slavery. 9 We are slaves, but you have never turned your back on us. You love us, and because of you, the kings of Persia have helped us. It’s as though you have given us new life! You let us rebuild your temple and live safely in Judah and Jerusalem.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

1. In the Beginning

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Christians today believe that the omnipotent God created by speaking words, saying “Let there be…” and the creation appeared as if it were a magic show. On the contrary, God totally invested His entire self into the work of creation. He invested, expressing His total love. Don’t we give our utmost sincerity and invest our flesh and blood for sake of the people we love? Likewise, in creating human beings, God invested His entire Being in us; we are the bone of His bones, the flesh of His flesh and the ideal of His ideals. Therefore, God can relate with us as His beloved object partners and His hope. (78:111-12, May 6, 1975)

When God created heaven and earth, after each day of creation, “God saw that it was good.” This means He felt joy. What is the experience of joy? It is the feeling of satisfaction we have when we accomplish a certain purpose. Because the created universe embodies God’s purposeful consciousness, God rejoiced at its creation. (9:169, May 8, 1960)

Every result begins from a motive or cause. Every existence begins from a motive and unfolds through a process before it materializes as a result. This is the case with all natural phenomena. Human beings did not make it so; rather, this is a basic principle and heavenly law, God’s law. For this reason, there is no such thing as the evolution of new species by random mutation. All things exist in order. The world was created by design, in which every existence, as an object-partner of God, arose through a principled process out of that motive [in the mind of God]. Consider successful people: could they succeed without a firm determination in their minds? Starting with a motive and plan in their mind, they prepare the ground and steadfastly push forward to reach their objective. Since this is necessary for an individual to succeed, would it not also be necessary for God, the Creator of this great universe, to attain His objectives? It is the same principle. (9:227, May 29, 1960)

The natural world contains such a wide diversity of creatures. What was the process by which each was created? They were created through the Creator’s heart of dedication and sincerity. Even the microscopic organisms were created through God’s heart of love and His cherished desire to exhibit His own splendor. (20:248, July 7, 1968)

God carried out His work of creation with the utmost sincerity, dedication and investment. He established the standard of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, and then invested absolutely. All created beings are God’s beloved object partners, whom He created by investing with utmost sincerity. (400:81, December 27, 2002)

Each of you wishes for your partner of love to be better than you in every way. By the same token, God is looking to create something and someone greater than Himself. Do you suppose God would expend only 90 percent of His energy in creating the universe, or would He give His full 100 percent? How about 100 percent a thousand times over? Indeed, He would invest and forget what He gave, and give again and again a thousand times over. Know that this is how our universe was created: God invested 100 percent of His energy, giving and forgetting what He gave, and repeating the process tens of thousands of times. (254:266, February 15, 1994)