A Third Religious Reformation is Badly Needed

View my latest video at the VisionRoot channel: The Emperor Has No Clothes; Stop the Madness and Lock Downs https://youtu.be/i9HCbM-bwtE.

John 20

20 On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran to Simon Peter and to Jesus’ favorite disciple and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb! We don’t know where they have put him.”

Richard: The early disciples were uncertain after Jesus’ Crucifixion, not sure what was going to happen. We are also in a time of uncertainty now. Yet, as you are reading, Rev. Sun Myung Moon has left a clear path for us to follow.

Ezra 1

Many people felt that the Lord God wanted them to help rebuild his temple, and they made plans to go to Jerusalem. Among them were priests, Levites, and leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The others helped by giving silver articles, gold, personal possessions, cattle, and other valuable gifts, as well as offerings for the temple.

King Cyrus gave back the things that Nebuchadnezzar[c] had taken from the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his own gods. Cyrus placed Mithredath, his chief treasurer, in charge of these things. Mithredath counted them and gave a list to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah. 9-10 Included among them were: 30 large gold dishes; 1,000 large silver dishes; 29 other dishes;[d] 30 gold bowls; 410 silver bowls; and 1,000 other articles.

Richard: Some people feel that President Trump is in the position of Cyrus (https://youtu.be/XWZ5wnuZthE, start at 13:26) or https://youtu.be/2Z4u2494vHI. He had an unusual win in the 2016 Election, and has managed to anger corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle. Prayerfully, he will lead us in the right direction during the current crisis. See my video The Emperor Has No Clothes; Stop the Madness and Lock Downs https://youtu.be/i9HCbM-bwtE.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

3.2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS

The concept of the separation of powers into three branches of government was advocated by Montesquieu (1689-1755), a leading thinker of the Enlightenment. It sought to prevent the concentration of political power in the hands of a single individual or institution, as was the case with political absolutism. The idea was proclaimed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man during the French Revolution. From the beginning, the separation of powers was to be characteristic of the political structure of the ideal society which God has been working to realize. Yet here again, as we observe throughout the course of the providence, Satan was defectively mimicking an aspect of the Principle ahead of its realization by God.

In the human body, the lungs, heart and stomach maintain harmonious interaction in accord with the directions of the brain, transmitted through the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. By analogy, the three branches of government in the ideal world—the legislative, judicial and executive branches—will interact in harmonious and principled relationships when they follow God’s guidance as conveyed through Christ and people of God. In the ideal world, because people’s horizontal relationships with each other are rooted in their vertical relationship with God, they will form one integrated and interdependent society in which they share all their joys and sorrows.

3.3 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

God’s ideal of creation cannot be fulfilled merely by forming a world without sin. God blessed human beings to have dominion over the universe.11 We are to seek for the hidden laws of nature and advance science and technology to create a pleasant living environment. Thus, we can understand that the Industrial Revolution which began in England arose out of God’s providence to restore the living environment to one suitable for the ideal world. In so doing, the Industrial Revolution opened up a vast territory for the propagation of the Gospel. Accordingly, it contributed to both the internal and external aspects of the providence of restoration.

3.4 THE RISE OF THE GREAT POWERS

Science, industrialization created economies characterized by overproduction. The great powers of Europe, which felt an urgent need to pioneer new lands as markets for their products and as sources of raw materials for their factories, grew strong as they competed with each other in the scramble for colonies. Thus, two factors—the two trends in ideology and the course of economic development following the progress of science—caused the later political division of the world into two blocs: the democratic world and the communist world.

3.5 RELIGIOUS REFORMS AND POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS SINCE THE RENAISSANCE

The Cain-type movement which began with the revival of Hellenism overthrew the medieval world and gave birth to the humanism of the Renaissance. As this movement developed further, moving in Satan’s direction, it gave birth to the Enlightenment, which may be regarded as the second renaissance in the current of ideology. Enlightenment thought further matured in the satanic direction, giving birth to historical materialism, which is the core of communist ideology. This may be regarded as the third renaissance.

Since the satanic side mimics in advance the providence of God, we may expect that God’s providence calls for three stages of revolution to take place in each of the three spheres of religion, politics and economy. In the sphere of religion, the first reformation took place under Martin Luther’s leadership after the first renaissance. A second reformation was launched after the second renaissance by the spiritual movements led by people such as the Wesley brothers, Fox and Swedenborg. From our examination of the progress of history, it is evident that a third reformation will occur following the third renaissance.

In the political sphere, we can surmise that reform also is taking place in three stages. First, medieval feudal society collapsed under the weight of the first renaissance and the first reformation. Next, absolute monarchy was destroyed by the forces unleashed by the second renaissance and the second reformation. Finally, the communist world was formed by the political revolutions brought on by the third renaissance. Through the coming third religious reformation, the democratic world on God’s side will triumph in the ideological war and bring the communist world on Satan’s side to its knees. Then the two worlds will unite into one Kingdom of Heaven on earth under God.

The economic changes which follow the religious and political reforms have been progressing in three industrial revolutions. The first Industrial Revolution originated in England and was based on the steam engine. A century later, the second Industrial Revolution took place in many advanced nations based on electricity and the gasoline engine. The third Industrial Revolution will flower by safely tapping the power of the atom; it will construct a pleasant living environment for the ideal world. In the centuries of preparation prior to the Second Advent of the Messiah, the three stages of revolutions in the three spheres of religion, politics and industry, which followed the three renaissances, have been a necessary course for the construction of the ideal world, as required by the principle of development through three stages.

Richard: Here is what Wikipedia says about the “Fourth Great Awakening”.

The Fourth Great Awakening is a debated concept that has not received the acceptance of the first three. Advocates such as economist Robert Fogel say it happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[21] The Jesus Movement is one evidence of this awakening, and it created a shift in church music styles.
Mainline Protestant denominations weakened sharply in both membership and influence while the most conservative religious denominations (such as the Southern Baptists and Missouri Synod Lutherans) grew rapidly in numbers, spread across the United States, had grave internal theological battles and schisms, and became politically powerful.[22]

I would add to the Jesus Movement the Unification Movement founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose teachings you are reading in this blog. The concept of the second or third Renaissance is not one generally accepted, but I believe it is related to the Great Awakenings. Also, Rev. Moon worked extensively to show the fallacies of godless Communism, and was instrumental in the fall of Communism and the former Soviet Union

View slides 38 to 55 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

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