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
 
 

With the Second Advent, Israel Could Emerge as an Independent State

Cheon Seong Gyeong 451

What do you think is the cause of human existence? The cause of human existence is love. Then where do you think the purpose of human existence lies? The purpose of human existence lies in completing the ideal of love. Human beings came into being through love, and so their purpose is to perfect love by forming a foundation of love and expanding and connecting it. In other words, since the beginning is love, the purpose has to be reached through love as well. For this, a man and a woman in partnership must become one in love and connect front and back, left and right, and above and below. (Blessed Family -1062)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1510

Because God is at the center of the family, this world should be His Kingdom. The Blessed Families should strive to lead a life that works toward building His Kingdom. A God-centered tribe, nation and world are established when we live for the sake of others on His behalf, so Blessed Families should be responsible for creating a God-centered world. The Unification Church centered upon the True Parents is like a tribe and race. The purpose of our church is to form a heavenly nation composed of five races in unity, which can live more for the sake of the world than anyone else. This is my purpose and it is God’s purpose that He desires to accomplish through me. (Blessed Family – 947)

Judaism

4. The Land of Israel

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
which the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of
the Lord ,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed
Desolate;
but you shall be called My delight is in her,
and your land Married;
for the l ord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
    Isaiah 62.1-4

The Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lordyour God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; and the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
    Deuteronomy 30.3-5

And We said unto the Children of Israel after him [Moses]: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter comes to pass We shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations.

    Qur’an 17.104 (Islam)

All civilizations of the world will be renewed by the renascence of our spirit. All quarrels will be resolved, and our revival will cause all life to be luminous with the joy of fresh birth. All religions will don new and precious raiment, casting off whatever is soiled, abominable and unclean; they will unite in imbibing the dew of the holy lights, that were made ready for all mankind at the beginning of time in the well of Israel. The active power of Abraham’s blessing to all the peoples of the world will become manifest and it will serve as the basis of our renewed creativity in the land of Israel.

    Abraham Isaac Kook, The Zionist Idea

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

What has been the hope of the Jewish people? They hoped to experience the fulfillment of God’s promise to unify the people and re-establish their nation. They longed for that day and kept it in their minds until the moment of death. They left behind the sorrow of not accomplishing it, and it remained their dying wish. When we see this, we recognize that the more a people has passed through a sorrowful course of history, the better they can receive the victorious foundation of world history.
    Enduring centuries of misfortune without having a nation, they developed the vision for their nation and love of their people. Because they digested the sorrow, they could realize their vision of a new nation—a new society where they could break down the walls of their confined environment and pursue life in a new, liberated environment. (30:247-48, March 29, 1970)
 
The Jews thought that they would unify the world centered on their people once they met the Messiah. However… after the death of Jesus, they wandered for 2,000 years. They were trampled under the hoofs of the Gentiles’ horses, killed by guns and swords, and suffered all manner of humiliations. Finally, with the Second Advent of Christ and the liberation of Korea, in 1948 Israel could emerge as an independent state.31 (208:286-87, November 20, 1990)
 
The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to build God’s nation. Therefore, we who assume Jesus’ role as ‘tribal messiahs’ should restore the nation of Israel and atone for its past failures… Israel was divided by conflict on the national level between the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel and the two tribes of Judah; this had its roots in the failure of Leah and Rachel to unite in the days of Jacob. Even in Moses’ day, the tribes fought each other. Jesus passed away in the midst of such division, symbolized by the two thieves on the right and on the left of Jesus at the crucifixion. Now that conflict expanded to the world level, at which time the Christ at the Second Advent comes to resolve the situation and unify the world…Currently, are not Judaism and Christianity enemies? In the Middle East, Israel and the Islamic nations are enemies. We should bring peace to the region. (250:331, October 15, 1993)
 
 
 

 

Has God Abandoned the Jews?

Matthew 26

26 When Jesus had finished teaching, he told his disciples, 2 “You know that two days from now will be Passover. That is when the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies and nailed to a cross.”

Isaiah 50

9 No one has come to defend us
    or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
    was a dark, gloomy night.
10 We feel our way along,
    as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
    as if it were night.
We can see no better
    than someone dead.[a]

11 We growl like bears
    and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
    but they escape us.
12 How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
    the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
    We have done wrong.
13 We have rebelled and refused
    to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
    and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
    and turn our backs on you.

14 Injustice is everywhere;
    justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
    honesty is shoved aside.
15 Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
    end up ruined.

Judaism

3. The Jewish-Christian Relationship

I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ…

    I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!… As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
    Romans 9.1-5; 11.1, 28-32 (Christianity)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Many Jews are alive on the earth today. Since a long time ago some of their ancestors betrayed the Will of God, has God therefore abandoned them? Surely not. While they may have traveled down a side path, they kept an unchanging heart toward God as God’s chosen people… As long as the Jews hold fast to their role as God’s chosen people despite any adversity, they will not disappear from the earth. Hence, there is an element of rightness that today they retain substantial economic power in the world and can exercise control in many fields. (4:243-44, May 18, 1958)

Judaism, centered upon the Old Testament, was the first work of God and is in an elder brother’s position. Christianity, centered upon the New Testament, is in the position of the second brother.
    The Unification Church, through which God has given a new revelation, the Completed Testament, is in the position of the youngest brother. These three religions are indeed three brothers in the providence of God. Then Israel, the United States and Korea, the nations where these three religions are based, must also be brothers. Because these three nations have a common destiny representing God’s side, the Communist bloc as Satan’s representative is trying to isolate and destroy them at the U.N.
    Therefore these three brother nations must join hands in a unified effort to restore the United Nations to its original purpose and function. They must contribute internally to the unification of world religions and externally to the unification of the world itself. (88:211, September 18, 1976)

The Chosen People should fulfill the mission of Humanity’s guides

Urban Life Training Newsletter-April-2021

New Richard Urban Show: The Great Fraud-The COVID 19 Agenda-One Year Later
The original eight part series: The Great Fraud-The COVID 19 Agenda
Enjoy on video or podcast, and please share!

Cheon Seong Gyeong 325

What is the difference between true love and authority? In true love, you give love and then forget that you have given it. What is the line between good and evil? Evil is where something is given with the intention of receiving all the benefit for oneself, and goodness is where, even though you give, you forget that you have done so. Even in a household, those who serve others more stand on the good side, and the one who lives for others most becomes the master of that family in the end. Let us say there are ten friends. Which would be the best among them? The one who cares for all the others. Then the ten friends would make the one who was taking care of them the central figure and serve him. This is how the universe is inherited. (141-252, 1986.2.26)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1191

What is the secret method to restore the right of the eldest son? Satan claims, “God is a perfect God and the Adam and Eve He is seeking must also be perfect. Had they not fallen, it would have been the Principled standard that Adam and Eve have to love me as the original archangel. Thus, even though I have fallen and I found myself in the position of a bad one, if you all are in a position to be called good and true, you must set up the condition of having loved me. Without this, You, God, cannot be in the position of God in front of me.” This is the problem. Satan stops everything dead, saying, “If there is a secret method of uniting with you, what is it? The person You send must love me. Unless he stands together with You in the position of loving me, and makes the condition enabling him to say that he loved me, he will not be able to regain the birthright of the firstborn son that I have been holding on to.” That is why Jesus exhorted us to love our enemies. (131-182, 1984.5.1

Judaism

2. The Suffering of the Jews

Thou hast made us like sheep for the slaughter,
and hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle,
Demanding no high price for them.
Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those about us.
Thou hast made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples…

All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten thee,
or been false to thy covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from thy way,
that thou shouldst have broken us in the place
of jackals,
and covered us with deep darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or spread forth our hands to a strange god,
would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long,
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Psalm 44.11-22

The Israelites are compared to an olive tree, because as the olive yields its oil only by hard pressure, so the Israelites do not return to righteousness except through suffering.
    Talmud, Menahot 53b

“For I am love-sick.” [Song of Solomon 2.5] Said the community of Israel before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, all the maladies which Thou bringest upon me are to make me more beloved of Thee.” Another explanation: The community of Israel said before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, the reason for all the sufferings which the nations inflict upon me is because I love Thee.”
    Canticles Rabbah 2.5

All we [the nations] like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;and the lord has laid on him [Israel] the iniquity of us all.
    Isaiah 53.6

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Despite suffering many difficulties throughout their history, the Jewish people have survived to this day as a homogeneous people. No other people have survived for so long. For two thousand years they wandered without a nation of their own. They have been trampled under the feet of many countries, despised and slaughtered. Yet in spite of all manner of difficulties, the Jews have survived with gusto as a homogeneous people, maintaining their unique traditions and teachings.
    How did the Jewish people handle their tribulations? They held to the thought that the more they were oppressed, the more they needed knowledge and money. So they made their children study, even if it meant living like beggars. They strived to earn as much money as possible. They believed that money and knowledge were the keys to power and worked together for their common purpose. This is how they could dissolve their grievances over all the miseries they suffered.
    Did God make the Jews suffer to punish them, or was God training them to be a people that can endure difficulties? If God made the Jews suffer out of His love, then surely their long suffering will lead to blessings and worldwide influence.
    This is God’s will for the one chosen to guide others up the mountain: to fulfill his responsibility as a guide, he should first have the authority of one who has conquered the mountain.
    In this respect, God gave the chosen people special dignity only because they are to fulfill the mission of humanity’s guides. Their special privilege lasts only as long as their mission. Once their mission is accomplished, God would give the whole world the same privilege and honor. God’s plan for the salvation of the world goes like this.
   What is the characteristic of the chosen people? They must have the independent ability to embrace all of humankind. Otherwise they cannot digest the whole world. (81:190-91, December 28, 1975)
    We should understand that God’s will is to unite all religions. God’s intention has been to make the world one, even if it required sacrificing the Jewish people. Six million lives are not the issue; the issue is to bring unity among all religions and to make all humankind as one.
    Judaism has been persecuted more than any other religion. Because God allowed such suffering to come to the Jews, God expected them to be the strongest and most united religious people. What religion shall play the central role in uniting all religions? God chose the Jews and trained them for that role. This is my explanation of the suffering of the Jews from the perspective of God’s providence. (105:126-27, October 4, 1979)