Interview with Andrea Elliot, Candidate for the Jefferson County WV Board of Education-May 10, 2022
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1726
If that is the case, when Adam’s and Eve’s bodies as well as their minds unite, would or would not that which is at the bottom of their bodies unite too? What would that be? Would God unite with them or not? Where would He unite with them? Since He created the organs for love, where would He come to unite with human beings? Where would that place be? It would be the place of love. (194-64, 1989.10.15)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 703
Would it be all right for this substantial fruit of six thousand years to fall without ripening, like a fruit dropping from its tree? Should the fruit, worrying that the wind might blow, say, “Oh no, it looks like I might fall. If the wind blows a bit more, I am going to fall. Father, don’t shake me, just let me be still.” There may be some people here who are like that. On the other hand, there are members saying, “Even if you take an ax and shake the branches as you please, my branches will never fall until they have been cut.” To which group do you belong? (46-154, 1971.8.13)
World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Testing
EVERYONE ON THE PATH OF FAITH WILL BE TESTED. Scripture records that the great people of faith were tested many times. Abraham endured ten trials of faith. Satan tested Job with loss of family and property. Muhammad had to overcome many obstacles as he struggled to proclaim the message to the idolators of Mecca. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and tested again on the way to the cross. Hindu and Buddhist saints as well faced life-and-death trials, and with absolute faith overcame them.
Overcoming tests gives us strength and toughness of character. Testing also accompanies grace, either before or afterwards, to qualify us to receive the grace and retain it.
Father Moon explains the reason why people of faith encounter testing by referring to the Book of Job’s account of the bargaining between Satan and God. Since human beings fell away from oneness with God, God accedes to Satan, “the Accuser,” the right to test human beings in order to prove whether they are indeed worthy of returning to God’s realm. Satan ruthlessly looks for any hint of selfishness that would disqualify them and give him a claim over them. Only the most faithful and selfless people can pass his tests. Sometimes a test requires us to deal with an inconceivable situation. The famous Qur’anic passage of Moses and al-Khidr, the “Green Man,” presents a trial where Moses must believe in things entirely contrary to common sense; but he cannot. In the Hindu Ramayana, Sita the wife of Rama proves her fidelity by jumping into a blazing pyre, and in a Buddhist sutra a seeker throws himself off a cliff to certain death; both pass the test and are unharmed. And how inconceivable was it to Abraham that God would ask him to sacrifice his son? We include accounts of several of the tests in Father Moon’s life.
- Satan Tests People of Faith
Now there was a day when the sons of God18 came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
Continue reading “Everyone on the Path of Faith Will Be Tested”
