Category: New Testament

People Can Protect Themselves from Disease Proactively

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S. Marshall Wilson-Independent

2 Tim 4

4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. 5 As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.

Isaiah 16

3 “Give counsel,
    grant justice;
make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts,
    betray not the fugitive;
4 let the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
be a refuge to them
    from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples under foot
    has vanished from the land,
5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love
    and on it will sit in faithfulness
    in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
    and is swift to do righteousness.”

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

Health and Disease

3. Medicine

The physician is Nature’s assistant.
Galen

The book of Nature is that which the physician
must read; and to do so he must walk over the
leaves.
Paracelsus

Servants of God, make use of medical treat-
ment, for God has not made a disease without
appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of
one disease: old age.
Hadith of Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud (Islam)

Give the physician his place, for the Lord
created him;
let him not leave you, for there is need of him.
There is a time when success lies in the hands
of physicians,
for they too will pray to the Lord
that he should grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
Ecclesiasticus 38.11-14

The medicine men learn their medicines from
the spirits in a vision. The spirits tell them what
to use and how to use it. Their medicines are
nearly always herbs (wato) or roots (hutkan)…
They drive the disease out in the sweat, in the
vomit, in the defecation, in the urine, and in
the breath.
Oglala Sioux Tradition (Native American Religions)

The hekura [guardian spirits]… help you bring
back stolen souls; thanks to them you don’t
lose your way. You can repel the demons of
disease; they enable you to recognize them by
their smell. Each one has its particular odor,
and their hammocks are impregnated with it;
it comes from the watota, which they all pos-
sess. A high-quality hallucinogen enables you
to see and name the demon who has just sto-
len a soul. You think, “It is so-and-so who is
guilty!” And it is your turn to hurl your familiar
hekura after him.
Yanomami Shaman’s Instruction
(Native American Religions)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Even the vilest germs disappear when faced with their natural enemies. All we need to do is intro-duce several of the germs’ natural enemies to mop them up and restore the body’s balance. Yet today’s doctors, in their ignorance, cut and slice in order to cure diseases like SARS. I am establish-ing a unified medical science, a combination of Eastern and Western medicines. It is a preventative medical science. I believe that by employing the principle of natural enemies, people can protect themselves from disease proactively. We should not have to undergo surgery in order to be healed of disease. In God’s love, our bodies are not meant to be cut and sliced. (May 10, 2003)

What is medicine? It is the disease’s natural enemy. If you have a disease in your head, the medi-cine would be the tail of its natural enemy. It is interesting to examine the materials and methods of Oriental medicine. If you get sick in the right side of your body, the treatment for it may involve the left side.16 (325:148, June 30, 2000)

We need to develop a unified medical science as a field of Unification Thought. It will cure the diseases of the body, even those that originated from the Human Fall. Furthermore, it should help to heal the conflict between Eastern and Western medicine by harmonizing Eastern and Western cultures. When we can combine Eastern and Western medicine, we will be able to cure incurable diseases like HIV/AIDS.

In Korea, among people of the countryside with no formal medical education, there are many gifted healers. The spirit world instructs them about special treatments for curing diseases such as AIDS that are incurable with modern medicine. Conventional medicine ignores such things. (287:38, August 10, 1997)

The End Aim Should Be God’s Glory and the Recreation of the Mind

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1 Corinthians 16

19 Greetings from the churches in Asia.

Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church that meets in their house, send greetings in the name of the Lord.

Isaiah 61
21 Your people will live right
    and always own the land;
they are the trees I planted
    to bring praise to me.
22 Even the smallest family
    will be a powerful nation.
I am the Lord,
and when the time comes,
    I will quickly do all this.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Creativity and Art

Artists, scientists and inventors take after the creativity of God. The universe was created beginning with an idea in the divine Mind, followed by the expenditure of energy to make that idea a reality. Likewise, artists and scientists give all their heart and effort to create a new existence that manifests the images and thoughts in their mind.
This section focuses on the arts, and so includes alongside scripture some selected passages from famous artists reflecting on the meaning of their art. Yet, creativity is not the sole possession of these elite personages; we find creativity in the athlete who plays exuberantly for the love of sport, in the merchant who finds better ways to market his wares, and in children as they dance and sing. Father Moon, who has established ballet companies and art schools and who himself loves to sing duets with his wife, is cognizant of the role the arts can play in creating a God-centered culture.
Topics include: art as harmony of opposites, art’s emotional core and emotional power; the muse, or spirituality of art; and the problem of art and values.

1. The Spirituality of Art

All art is concerned with coming into being.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 6.4 (Hellenism)

Life is art.
The whole life of man is Self-Expression.
The individual is an expression of God.
We suffer if we do not express ourselves.
Precepts 1-4 (Perfect Liberty Kyodan)

We composers are projectors of the infinite into
the finite.
Edvard Grieg

The sole and end aim of figured bass should be
Nothing else than God’s glory and the recreation
of the mind.
Johann Sebastian Bach

True art is made noble and religious by the
mind producing it… the endeavor to create
something perfect; for God is perfection, and
whoever strives after perfection is striving for
something divine.
Michelangelo

Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody to the Lord with all your heart.
Ephesians 5.18-19

And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon
Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his
hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and
the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16.23

Men can be evil—more evil than their animal
brothers can ever be—but they can also rise
in the ecstasy of creation. The cathedrals of
England stand as monuments to man’s worship
of what is above himself.
One does feel proud to belong to the human
race when one sees the wonderful things human
beings have fashioned with their hands. They
have been creators—they must share a little the
holiness of the Creator, who made the world
and all that was in it, and saw that it was good.
But He left more to be made.
Agatha Cristie

In eloquence there is magic, in knowledge
ignorance;
in poetry wisdom, and in speech weariness.
Hadith of Abu Dawud (Islam)

If I create from the heart, nearly everything
works; if from the head, almost nothing.
Marc Chagall

Let our artists be those who are gifted to discern
the true nature of the beautiful and graceful; then
will our youth dwell in a land of health, amid fair
sights and sounds, and receive the good in every-
thing; and beauty, the effluence of fair works,
shall flow into the eye and ear, like a health-giv-
ing breeze from a purer region, and insensibly
draw the soul from earliest years into likeness and
sympathy with the beauty of reason.
Musical training is a more potent instrument
than any other, because rhythm and harmony
find their way into the inward places of the
soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting
grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly
educated graceful.
Plato, The Republic (Hellenism)

Even Solomon in all His Glory Was Not Arrayed Like One of These

James 1

1 From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.[a]

2 My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

5 If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. 7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can’t make up your mind, and you surely can’t be trusted. So don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all.

Lamentations 4

4 The purest gold is ruined
    and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
    lie scattered in the streets.
2 These are Zion’s people,
    worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
    like dishes of clay.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Beauty

Beauty abounds in nature: the majestic mountains, the delicate hues of a flower, the brilliant colors of a sunset, the sparkle of dew on the morning grass. there is harmony of shape and color, light and shadow, sound and silence.
Harmony is an aspect of beauty. harmony is inherent in the very structure of the universe. the ancients found mathematics to be the basis of music, and today scientists are learning more about the “music of the spheres” in the motions of the stars and the properties of the atom. singing birds and chirping insects sound nature’s music as they seek for love. they are expressing its inherent harmony; human music cannot compare with it. the dissonance of our fallen condition condemns us to strike discordant notes. Were that human beings as harmonious as nature!
Human beings, God’s supreme creations, should manifest supreme beauty. people sing, dance, and create beautiful art, but more than that, we find beauty in one another, in expressions of love. there is inner beauty in a loving couple, a filial child caring for aged parents, and a loyal citizen making sacrificial efforts for the welfare of his or her nation. the beauty that people manifest in these ways also glorifies God, who delights to see beauty abounding in his works. this inner beauty becomes apparent in the spirit world—where beauty abounds for those who are worthy.

  1. The Beauty of Nature

Nature is the art of God.
Dante Alighieri

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6.28-29

God is beautiful and loves beauty
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

It is God who has made for you the earth as a
resting place, and the sky as a canopy, and has
given you shape—and made your shapes beau-
tiful—and has provided for you sustenance of
things pure and good; such is God, your Lord.
So glory to God, the Lord of the Worlds!
Qur’an 40.64

Known by the name of Protectress
is the Goddess girt by Eternal Law;
by her beauty are these trees green
and have put on their green garlands.
Atharva Veda 10.8.31 (Hinduism)

The One who, Himself without color,
by the manifold application of His power
Distributes many colors in His hidden purpose,
And into whom, its end and its beginning, the
whole world dissolves—
He is God!
Svestasvatara Upanishad 4.1 (Hinduism)

Beauty is before me.
Beauty is behind me.
Beauty is below me.
Beauty is above me.
I walk in beauty.
Navajo Song (Native American Religions)

God created the seven heavens in harmony.
Qur’an 71.15

In the cosmic Void is He absorbed,
Where plays the unstruck mystic music—
Beyond expression is this miraculous wonder.
Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 23.1,
M.5, p. 293 (Sikhism)

The origin of music lies far back in time. It arises
out of two poles: the two poles give rise to the
powers of darkness and light. The powers of dark-
ness and light undergo change; the one ascends
into the heights, the other sinks into the depths;
heaving and surging they combine to form bod-
ies. If they are divided they unite themselves
again; if they are united they divide themselves
again. That is the eternal way of heaven. Heaven
and earth are engaged in a circle. Every ending
is followed by a new beginning; every extreme is
followed by a return. Everything is coordinated
with everything else. Sun, moon, stars move in
part quickly, in part slowly. Sun and moon do
not agree in the time which they need to com-
plete their path. The four seasons succeed each
other, bringing heat and cold, shortness and
length, softness and hardness. That from which
all beings arise and in which they have their ori-
gin is the Great One; that whereby they form
and perfect themselves is the duality of dark-
ness and light… Sound arises out of harmony.
Harmony arises out of relatedness. Harmony
and relatedness are the roots from which music,
established by the ancient kings, arose.
Book of Ritual 19 (Confucianism)


Wasting Anything Is a Sin

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Romans 16

25 Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. For ages and ages this message was kept secret, 26 but now at last it has been told. The eternal God commanded his prophets to write about the good news, so that all nations would obey and have faith. 27 And now, because of Jesus Christ, we can praise the only wise God forever! Amen.

Joshua 8

21-24 One region of Benjamin’s tribal land had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Those towns were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

2. Conservation and Sustainable Development

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Nature always seeks balance, and has been doing so unceasingly for billions of years. What about you Americans: are you in balance or not? You waste excessively. Once when I went to a public rest-room, I saw someone tear off a long strip of toilet paper and use only the end of it, leaving two-thirds unused on the floor. (339:165, December 20, 2000)

Wasting anything is a sin, from the principled viewpoint. When we were born, we are allotted only a certain amount of material for our use. If we use more than the allotted amount, we are committing sin. We should conserve resources for our posterity. (June 13, 2000)

How to solve environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing humanity. According to scientists, once the ozone layer is depleted, humankind will not be able to survive the sun’s ultra-violet rays. Pollution is even changing the climate. We should, therefore, change our lifestyle. We should live a simple life in nature, as people did in the ancient times. We should even go to the bathroom in nature, which recycles human waste as fertilizer, rather than causing pollution to the environment. (203:56, June 14, 1990)

We should not allow animal species to become extinct. We should nurture them and then set them free. Zoos should not just exhibit animals; they should breed them to set free in the wild. We should likewise protect insect species. We should protect and nurture all the species of plants, which are food for animals. We should protect the seeds of the world, that no plant species becomes extinct. (324:118, June 17, 2000)

Already, some species of insects, fish and animals have become extinct. If this phenomenon con-tinues unabated, then in 600 years, or even 300 years, human beings will also become extinct. (326:152, July 7, 2000)

We should raise fish in farms and then let them loose. We can hatch them from eggs like we raise chickens. After letting them loose, we love them, then catch and eat them. The things of creation serve as living offerings to compensate their owner for the love they have received: thus does the creation provide food for people. Now, instead of just catching fish, we should first farm them…Krill is high in protein; it is a good resource that can be food for animals. This foodstuff exists for the sake of humanity. By supplying the world with krill, we can solve the world’s food problems. We can lay water pipelines to the desert and create fish farms. Just as petroleum is brought to the American mainland from Alaska, it should be possible to pipe seawater or freshwater to any place in the world. Amazon River water can be piped to the desert. Then it can be developed for fish farming. We should breed and grow fish with a loving heart, before we eat them. By creating fish farms in the desert, we can also use the water to irrigate the land to grow vegetables and grass. Every year, more land is turning into desert. Through human ingenuity, by establishing fish farms, the desert will become a place of marshes and trees. I am not just thinking small-scale; I envision transforming a huge desert into fish farms that will produce an infinite supply of food. (324:114-15, June 17, 2000)

Solutions to the world’s environmental problems cannot be arrived at through the efforts of scien-tists alone, or by the efforts of any one individual, organization, or nation… They call for sacrifice and cooperation among all peoples of the world, transcending the interests of any one community or nation. Such a spirit of cooperation will be attained only when all people view themselves as mem-bers of the same human family. This revolutionary change in human consciousness has long been needed, and is vital to humanity’s survival today. (74:108-09, November 21, 1974)

Loving God Starts From Below Your Own Feet

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John 8

45 Everything I have told you is true, and you still refuse to have faith in me. 46 Can any of you accuse me of sin? If you cannot, why won’t you have faith in me? After all, I am telling you the truth. 47 Anyone who belongs to God will listen to his message. But you refuse to listen, because you don’t belong to God.

Richard: Rev. Moon brought the message of world peace through ideal families. This is the essential message for this age. The opposite is being enacted in the streets now because we did not heed this message.

Psalm 50

From east to west,
    the powerful Lord God
    has been calling together
    everyone on earth.
2 God shines brightly from Zion,
    the most beautiful city.

3 Our God approaches,
    but not silently;
    a flaming fire comes first,
    and a storm surrounds him.
4 God comes to judge his people.
    He shouts to the heavens
    and to the earth,
5 “Call my followers together!
They offered me a sacrifice,
    and we made an agreement.”

6 The heavens announce,
“God is the judge,
    and he is always honest.”

7 My people, I am God!
    Israel, I am your God.
    Listen to my charges
    against you.
8 Although you offer sacrifices
    and always bring gifts,
9     I won’t accept your offerings
    of bulls and goats.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Loving God starts from below your own feet. It means to love the things you possess and the natural environment. You absorb the things that you love as your life elements. Love all things equally. The entire universe exists in love, and you are part of it. Therefore, if you live for the universe, it will return to your bosom. (290:129, February 15, 1998)

There are languages in the animal world. If you sing to your plants, they will grow better and their flowers will generate more fragrance. Even flowers appreciate music and art. (262:127, July 23, 1994)

In the old days when people drove oxen to till the soil, they might whip the animal’s butt, hollering, “You rotten beast! Why are you so lazy? I raised you for this time of the year, you good-for-nothing!” Instead, you would do well to speak gently to the ox, “I am very sorry that I have to use you like this after a long winter of inactivity and poor feeding.” Have a heart more tolerant and patient than the animal, and God will draw near to you. (127:89, May 5, 1983)

Human beings, the center of the creation, want love. Animals also want love; so do plants. Animals want human love. Plants want love from animals. Humans, as the masters of creation, should love animals; those animals should love plants and other creatures. True love thus links everything in a hierarchical order, with God on the top, then human beings, then animals, then plants and finally minerals. (166:51-52, May 28, 1987)

When I go fishing, I release the first fish I catch. When I release it, however, I ask it a question based on the Principle: “You were born through love, so you should die for love; that is the way. Wouldn’t you like to live and die for the sake of human beings who love you?” (93:189, May 29, 1977)

Animals, male and female, should be liberated. Even fish should be liberated. We should build a world where people prepare food for the animals as their owners rather than kill them and eat them. (388:270, August 2, 2002)