Daily Inspiration: A Community for Daily Scripture Study

We Are Cautioned to Be Humble Before the Higher Wisdom of God

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2069

The family is the formation stage, the tong and ban (local community and neighborhood) are the tribal growth stage, and then the nation is the completion stage. These three points must be connected in the family. If you don’t connect these points in the family, then they can’t be connected at the tribal lev-el. They can’t be connected to the nation, and they can’t be connected to the world. (218-184, 1991.7.28)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1196

If a head of state learned the Principle, what would happen? It would be only a short time before he saved the nation. Now we are entering the era of restoring the kingship. In the future, it will not be necessary for all of the citizens of a country to believe. If the president of a country fixes its constitution so that it is based on the Principle, the restoration of that nation becomes possible at once. (198-242, 1990.2.3)

One Truth, Many Paths

Passages from diverse scriptures affirm that religions that do not share the faith of that scripture nevertheless contain elements of truth. they affirm that all genuine religions worship the same God. Thus, the Qur’an affirms that Jews and Christians are people of the book who worship the same God as the God of Muhammad. The Sikh scriptures affirm that there is one God for Muslims and Hindus. A Shinto text affirms that the chief Shinto deity is essentially the same as the Buddha.
Further, scriptures affirm that each religion is a path to the same supreme Goal. Here we have the famous images of many rivers flowing into the same ocean or a mountain with many paths leading up to the same summit. the religions of the world begin by addressing the needs, customs and circumstances of diverse cultures, but as they elevate humanity they draw closer together as their paths converge to the one. In this regard, Father Moon affirms that God inspired each of the great religious founders with a message appropriate to the culture and times in which he lived. He honors them as humanity’s true guides, who sent to the earth within the providence of God to help humanity progress towards the ultimate goal.
Certainly, every religion considers its way the best and highest path. the bible says that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life,” and that “nobody comes to the Father but by me.” the Qur’an states that it is the only accurate witness to the previous revelations—the torch and the Gospel having suffered corruptions and interpolations. Nevertheless, we are cautioned to be humble before the higher wisdom of God. as the parable of the blind Man and the elephant teaches, each way may touch the truth without seeing its entirety. Father Moon likewise sees religions at different levels, due to their appearance at different ages in the course of humanity’s spiritual development. yet the differences among religions should not obscure the core truth they hold in com-mon. hence, religious people can overlook their differences and find common ground.

. All Religions Worship the Same God and Serve His Great Will

The Hindus and the Muslims have but one and the same God;

What can a mullah or a sheikh do?

Adi Granth, Bhairo, p. 1158 (Sikhism)

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the lord of hosts.

Malachi 1.11

Those who worship other gods with faith and devotion also worship Me, Arjuna, even if they do not observe the usual forms. I am the object of all worship, its enjoyer and Lord.

Bhagavad-Gita 9.23-24 (Hinduism)

Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the prophets who submit-ted to God judged the Jews, as did the rabbis and the doctors of the law, because they were required to guard God’s Book, and to which they were witnesses. So fear not mankind, but fear Me. And barter not My revelations for a little gain. Whoso judges not by that which God has sent down—such are disbelievers…

And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming the Torah before him, and We bestowed on him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the Torah—a guidance and an admonition for those who ward off evil. Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which God has revealed therein. Whosoever judges not by that which God has revealed—such are those who live in evil.

And unto thee We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which God has revealed, and follow not their desires apart from the truth which has come unto thee.

For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had God so willed, He could have made you all one community. But He willed it otherwise in order to test you by that which He has given you. So vie one with another in doing good works! Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ.

Qur’an 5.44-48

This is the land of the gods. The people should revere them. In my essence I [Amaterasu] am the Buddha Vairocana. Let my people understand this and take refuge in the Law of the Buddhas.

Revelation of Amaterasu to Emperor Shomu (Shinto)

There can be no doubt that whatever the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except for a few which are the out-comes of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 111 (Baha’i Faith)

As the different streams
having their sources in different places
all mingle their waters in the sea,
so, O Lord, the different paths that men take,
through various tendencies,
various though they appear,
crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.
Sanskrit hymn (Hinduism)

In whatever way and path humans worship Me, in that same path do I meet and fulfill their aspirations and grace them. It is always My Path that humans follow in all their different paths and journeys, on all sides.

Bhagavad-Gita 4.11 (Hinduism)

Those who believe in the Qur’an, those who follow the Jewish scriptures, and the Sabeans and the Christians—any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness—on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

Qur’an 5.69

There are righteous men among the Gentiles who have a share in the world to come.

Tosefta Sanhedrin 13.2 (Judaism)

And Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

Acts 10.34-35

And nearest to them in love to the believers you will find those who say, “We are Christians,” because among them are men devoted to learn-ing and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant. And when they lis-ten to the revelation received by the Apostle, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth. They pray, “Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses.”

Qur’an 5.82-83

Other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing “ways,” comprising teachings, rules of life and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She looks with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.

Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (Christianity)

Set Things Right Between Your Two Brothers

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John 18

³⁸“What is truth?” retorted Pilate.

Psalm 14

Richard: No doubt, this is today’s question. With so many lies and obfuscations being promoted, we need to be in touch with our conscience, centered on the Word of God.

Pslam 14

But all of them are corrupt;
no one does right.

⁴Won’t you evil people learn?
    You refuse to pray,
    and you gobble down
    the Lord’s people.
⁵But you will be frightened,
    because God is on the side
    of every good person.
⁶You may spoil the plans
of the poor,
    but the Lord protects them.

⁷I long for someone from Zion
    to come and save Israel!
Our Lord, when you bless
    your people again,
    Jacob’s family will be glad,
    and Israel will celebrate.

The Purpose of Religion

3. Religions Promote Universal Community

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3.28

The believers indeed are brothers; so set things right between your two brothers, and fear God; haply so you will find mercy.
Qur’an 49.10

Israel’s reconciliation with God can be achieved only when they are all one brotherhood.
Talmud, Menahot 27a (Judaism)

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life for evermore.
Psalm 133

Happy is the unity of the Sangha.
Happy is the discipline of the united ones.
Dhammapada 194 (Buddhism)

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism, and for that
matter all religions, is to serve and benefit man.
Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama (Buddhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Throughout history, the basic pillar of every civilization has been the spirit. Religion is that spiritual pillar, enduring from age to age always keeping the spirit as its center. As religion expands its influence, it guides the human conscience, leavens the social environment, and guides humankind towards the world of God’s desire. (9:277, June 12, 1960)

God established religion to convey God’s love and truth to humankind and to save humankind. God established various religions, each in its own time and place. For example, He founded Buddhism in India and Confucianism in China approximately 2,400 years ago, and in Judea, He founded Christianity 2,000 years ago.

It can be said assuredly that the absolute value perspective is established only through religions which revere Ultimate Reality. Conversely, no fundamental solution to today’s confusion is possible through those thoughts and philosophies that are not founded on religion… In history, we have the examples of Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, each of which, in its own time and place, dispelled anxiety and brought peace to societies in chaos. On the foundation of peace and security, each brought forth a flourishing of culture. (122:300, November 26, 1982)

What is the true religion? It is the religion that brings the truth by which all people can enter into a genuine parent-child relationship with God. It unites all humankind in brotherly love. Further, it strives to bring about one human family centered on the love of God. These are the qualities of a true religion. People who are searching for the highest religion, the religion established by God, should seek a religion with these qualities. (91:225, February 20, 1977)

In the next world, people are divided by nationality; except religious people, who can dwell together with fellow-believers from every nation. In the religious sphere people believe in one God and long for one world; hence they can live together transcending nationality. (297:271, December 19, 1998)

Although their skin colors are different and their living circumstances are different, in relating to Thy Will they are brothers and sisters in a destined relationship of one blood. (10:150, September 25, 1960)

The ultimate purpose of all religions is to realize the ideal world of peace, which is God’s desire. Religions should be concerned about the Will of God for the salvation of the world before thinking of the salvation of their own denomination or the salvation of individuals. (135:221, November 16, 1985)

Fallen Human Beings Are Exiles

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 231

God’s love is the love of a vertical parent, and True Parents’ love is the love of horizontal parents. Since you are the people that have inherited these, your minds are the fruit of the tradition that has received the love of the vertical God and parents. Likewise your bodies are the fruit of the tradition that have received the love of horizontal True Parents. In order for these fruits to form the horizontal basis of a family and form a sphere with a vertical center you need to be a husband or a wife and have children. So it is a sin not to bear children. You should not be a childless person. Is there flesh without bone? No, because it would have nowhere to attach itself. (184-309, 1989.1.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1210

Even if a person reached the standard of perfection, his lineage is still not completely clean. Since humankind inherited Satan’s lineage, our lineage is not pure yet. In order to purify it, humankind certainly needs the Messiah. There-fore, the foundation of faith, the foundation of substance, and the foundation for the Messiah are absolutely necessary for fallen people. The ultimate question is how to create the foundation for the Messiah and change the lineage through the Messiah. (55-135, 1972.5.7)

The Purpose of Religion

2. Religions Cultivate Good Character

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The word “religion” in Chinese characters is 宗敎 (chongkyo in Korean). It means a floor-like teaching, in other words, the foundational teaching for human beings. (92:309, April 24, 1977)

The church is the place where you cultivate your character and become a person of integrity. Due to the Fall we came to be in need of the church. The family and society are not sufficient to nurture a mature character; it doesn’t happen automatically. Nor does school: even if you attend a good college and then go on to earn a doctor’s degree, it will not restore your character. That is where the church has a role. (25:126, September 30, 1969)

Through religions, God has been teaching people how to strengthen a God-centered spirit and reverse the body’s control over the mind; these further our character development. This is the reason why religions recommend that we fast, sacrifice and serve, be meek and humble, and so on. It is to weaken the power of the body and to have the body submit to the spirit. It normally takes three to five years for a person leading a life of faith to free him or herself from a body-centered, habitual lifestyle and establish a spirit-centered lifestyle. (201:208-09, April 9, 1990)

Each religion that has appeared on this earth emerged from the deep will of God’s providence to teach the nature of love. (Way of Unification 1.1.4.1)

Heaven is our original homeland, where we are meant to go. We fallen human beings are exiles from our original homeland, and hence our destiny is to return there. We cannot, however, enter heaven by ourselves, so through the course of history God has to set up paths to enable us to return. This is why God created the various religions: to be training grounds for heaven, illuminating paths for every people, culture and tradition. Religions are meant to train and polish people to be qualified to enter the region of the original homeland. To cope with humankind’s many different cultures, God set up paths in many directions, yet with each path related to the one standard. In this way, God is leading these various paths toward one unified religious world.

What do all religions teach to guide people to the original homeland? They promote the path of living for the sake of others. The higher the religion, the more strongly it emphasizes the importance of living for others. For example, religions teach us to be humble. Why? Because to live for others, we should be able to lift other people above ourselves. Religions also teach us to sacrifice and serve. Why? Through these ways, religions train people to fit the rules of the Kingdom of Heaven. (78:117, May 6, 1975)

Surrender Your Purpose to God While Doing Good

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Isaiah 18

⁵For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
⁶They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey
    and to the wild animals;
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

Ezekiel 46

¹²“‘When the prince provides a freewill offering to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

The Purpose of Religion

2. Religions Cultivate Good Character

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1.27

Whoever surrenders his purpose to God while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall be no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve.
Qur’an 2.112

For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Titus 2.11-14

Make your mosque of compassion, your prayermat of sincerity;
your Qur’an of honest and legitimate earning.
Be modesty your circumcision, noble conduct your Ramadan fast—
thus shall you be a true Muslim.
Make good deeds your Kaaba; truth your preceptor;
good action your Kalima and namaz.
Make your rosary of what pleases God:
Thus will you be honored at the last reckoning.
Adi Granth, Var Majh, M.1, p. 140 (Sikhism)

What is to be avoided most in our life is vacillation and frivolity; what is most excellent is a reverential heart. Therefore, we Confucians endeavor to preserve sincerity of heart and consider reverence as most essential. It is needless to say that sincerity and reverence make us companions of heaven and earth, gods and spirits. There is, however, another class of people who adopt Buddhism as their guidance. They bow before the Buddha and recite his sutras, always bent on preserving reverence and awe. They will never relax the vigilant guard over the heart, which will by degrees become pure and bright, free from evil thoughts and ready to do good. This enlightenment is called their most happy land. What is necessary, then, for Buddhists as well as Confucians is to avoid vacillation and frivolity, which will render you unreliable. Keep the heart always restrained by reverence and awe. Otherwise what can be the use of the recitation of sutras or the discourses of Confucius?
Tract of the Quiet Way (Taoism)

God, the Parent of Humankind, Cannot Remain Aloof

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 451

Since human beings begin in love and mature through love, they cannot live separated from the standard of love. (Blessed Family -1062)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1265

The True Parent, as the perfected Adam, must restore the standard of the first parents, which Adam failed to meet. He must also perfect the standard of the parent that Jesus, who came as the second Adam, failed to achieve. The reason I have no choice but to establish a tradition of suffering in this era of the Second Advent is because Jesus established the spiritual foundation but failed to establish both spiritual and physical foundations on the world level. (55-173, 1972.5.7)

The Purpose of Religion

1. Religions Provide the Way of Salvation

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Why throughout history have people needed to improve themselves through morals, ethics, and religion? Why should we observe them? It is because we sense something is wrong with us, and we desire to return to our original standing before God. (205:8, July 15, 1990)

However hard the original mind may struggle to attain goodness, we can hardly find any examples of true goodness in this world under the sovereignty of evil. Human beings have thus been compelled to seek the source of goodness in the world transcendent of time and space. This necessity has given birth to religion. Through religion, fallen people mired in ignorance have sought to meet God by ceaselessly striving toward the good. Even though the individuals, peoples and nations that championed a certain religion may have perished, religion itself survives. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 2.3)

God, the Parent of humankind, cannot remain aloof when He sees His sons and daughters in their fallen state. They are like broken radios, so God created repair shops to fix them. These repair shops are religions. Seeing the many traces of these repair shops down through history, we cannot deny the existence of God. (54:102, March 20, 1972)

If God used His almighty power, He could easily save all humanity. Then He wouldn’t need religion. But why does God need religion? God wants the enemy to surrender willingly. When that happens, God can become the center and heal all beings. That is God’s strategy. (207:21, October 21, 1990)

Religion does not have humankind as its primary object. Rather, religious teachings establish God, the Parent, as foremost. A life of following God’s will is a course to establish and mature in a relationship with God. Therefore, holy men and women invariably support the will of Heaven and declare the heart of Heaven.
A true religion should teach people about God. A true religion should not have some vague ideas about God; a true religion should be able to give a clear picture of God so that people can understand Him. A religion that compromises with the world cannot be called a higher order religion. That kind of religion will ultimately decline.
A true religion should teach people the path to know God clearly, to become one with God, and finally, to reestablish the world that God originally intended at the creation. After all, the purpose of religion is to seek for the ideal world: a world without sin, a world where all people enjoy the original relationship with God. (February 6, 2003)

We know that the main problem here is not which denomination,
which religion or which group we belong to.
The viewpoint of truth—the entirety of truth—
is to have an inward heart that Thou canst recognize,
and to go forth with an earnest heart that can experience Thy heart.
O Father, grant us to know Thy heart! (4:236, May 18, 1958)