Unification theology (theology of the Unification Church) has as its core the Divine Principle, which was said to be discovered by or revealed to Sun Myung Moon during a period of prayer and study (1935-1944), Wolli Hesol (Explanation of the Divine Principle), published in 1957, and Wolli Kangron (Exposition of the Divine Principle), published in 1966. The single most important idea is the parental relationship between God and man. The Unification Church is a new religious movement started by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1940s. ... The Divine Principle or Exposition of the Divine Principle (in Korean, Wolli Kangron) is the main theological textbook of the Unification Church, held to have the status of scripture by believers. ... Sun Myung Moon in 2005. ... Mary Magdalene in prayer. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Wolli Kangron is the main theological textbook of the Unification Church, held to have the status of scripture by members of the movement. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

Comparison to traditional Christian theology

In many respects, the Unification Church's theology is similar to mainstream Christian theology, but it differs from traditional Christian teaching in the following beliefs: The Unification Church is a new religious movement started by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1940s. ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογια, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Given the overwhelming influence exercised by Christianity, especially in pre-modern Europe, Christian theology permeates much of Western culture and often reflects that culture. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...

• Jesus is not God Himself, but rather a man born without sin who grew to perfection, an incarnation of divinity, an embodiment of God's nature, a state to which all people were to have grown had there never been original sin.
• Jesus did not come to die, but to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Giving his life as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross was a secondary course made necessary by a lack of faith and support of those surrounding Jesus.

This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral rule or the state of having committed such a violation. ... // Perfection is, broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness. ... Look up Incarnation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Incarnation, which literally means enfleshment, refers to the conception, and live birth of a sentient creature (generally human) who is the material manifestation of an entity or force whose original nature is immaterial. ... Divinity has a number of related uses in the field of religious belief and study. ... According to Christian tradition, original sin is the general condition of sinfulness (lack of holiness) into which human beings are born (Psalm 51:5). ... This is a sub-article of Death of Jesus. ... The Kingdom of Heaven (or the Kingdom of God, Hebrew מלכות השמים, malkhut hashamayim, Greek basileia tou theou) is a key concept detailed in all the three major monotheistic religions of the world — Islam, Judaism and Christianity. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ... Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome For other uses, see Sacrifice (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Brief overview of Unification theology

The Divine Principle says that God has a harmonized blend of masculine and feminine characteristics. God is unique, eternal, absolute and unchanging. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

God's original intention - for Adam and Eve to reach perfection in their lifetimes, thus creating the Kingdom of Heaven on earth - was prevented through the Fall of Man. Since the Fall, God has worked to achieve his original intention of a perfect society. The Last Days are a time when good shall triumph over evil. Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... In Abrahamic religion, The Fall of Man or The Story of the Fall, or simply The Fall, refers to humanitys purported transition from a state of innocent bliss to a state of sinful understanding. ... The term Judgement Day may refer to: The Last Judgement; the ethical-judicial trial, judgement, and punishment/reward of individual humans (assignment to Heaven or to Hell) by a divine tribunal at the end of time. ...

Jesus was the fulfillment of God's plan for an ideal man, someone who would grow to perfection during his lifetime and as such embody divinity,^[1] just as each mature person should have done had there never been a Fall of Man or sin.

Jesus' mission was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spiritual realm (and thus in the afterlife), but due to his rejection by the people of the time, it became impossible to complete this original mission. By dying on the cross and being resurrected, Jesus accomplished an alternate mission, "spiritual salvation," allowing Christians to be born again; however, the rest of his mission remains unfulfilled. According to the New Testament, especially the Gospels, God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. ... In theology, salvation can mean three related things: freed forever from the punishment of sin Revelation 1:5-6 NRSV - also called deliverance;[1] being saved for something, such as an afterlife or participating in the Reign of God Revelation 1:6 NRSV - also called redemption;[2]) and a process... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ...

People are resurrected through repentance and good deeds in the flesh (through bodily action). After death, a person can gain resurrection by cooperating in spirit with an earthly person (vaguely similar to the Catholic doctrine on the intercession of saints). The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... // Christianity In Christian practice, intercessory prayer is the act of one person praying for or on behalf of another person or situation. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are often depicted as having halos. ...

God's predestination is partial and relative. If a person fulfills their preordained role, God's predestination of that person's life is fulfilled. But it's up to the person to fulfill their God-given responsibility. Predestination and foreordination are religious concepts, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. ... The doctrine of responsibility in Unification Church theology is often poorly understood by outsiders. ...

Principles underlying God's creation

God is viewed as the creator in Unification Theology. God has polar characteristics corresponding to (but more subtle or "internal" than) the attributes we see expressed in his creation: masculinity and femininity, internal character and external form, subject and object. God is referred to as "he" for simplicity and because "masculinity" is associated with "subject." God is omniscient and omnipotent, though bound by his own principles and the logical consequences of human freedom; in order to experience a relationship of love, he created human beings as his children and gave them freedom to love him or not as they chose.

The fall of humanity

Unificationists believe that the Fall of Man was an actual historical event (rather than an allegory) involving an original human couple, who are called Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis in the Bible. The elements in the story, however, such as the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the forbidden fruit, the serpent, etc., are interpreted to be symbolic metaphors for ideal man, ideal woman, sexual love, and Satan, respectively. The essence of the fall is that Eve was seduced by an angelic being (Lucifer). Eve then seduced Adam. So love was consummated through sexual intercourse between Adam and Eve apart from the plan of God, and before Adam and Eve were spiritually mature. Unificationists believe there was a "spiritual (sexual) fall," between Eve and the angel, and a "physical (sexual) fall" between Eve and Adam. They also regard Adam and Eve's son Cain killing his brother Abel as a literal event which contributed to humankind's fallen state. Unificationists teach that since the "fall of humanity," all of human history has been a constant struggle between the forces of God and Satan to correct this original sin (cf. Augustine and lust, concupiscence). This belief contributes to their strict moral code of "absolute love" and sexual purity, and the need for "indemnity." Essentially, original sin is the doctrine, shared in one form or another by most Christian churches, that the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden changed or damaged human nature, such that all human beings since then are innately predisposed to sin, and are powerless to overcome... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than (and in addition to) the literal. ... Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... Genesis (Hebrew: ‎, Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... In the Bibles Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden from which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat. ... Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation). ... Lucifer, as depicted in Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal (1863). ... In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain or Káyin (קַיִן / קָיִן spear Standard Hebrew Qáyin, Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin; Arabic قايين Qāyīn in the Arabic Bible; قابيل Qābīl in Islam) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation... In the Book of Genesis, Abel (Hebrew הֶבֶל / הָבֶל, Standard Hebrew Hével / Hável, Tiberian Hebrew Héḇel / Hāḇel; Arabic هابيل Hābīl) was the second son of Adam. ... According to Christian tradition, original sin is the general condition of sinfulness (lack of holiness) into which human beings are born (Psalm 51:5). ... “Augustinus” redirects here. ... In theology, concupiscence refers to the orientation or inclination of human desire towards a partial good before any voluntary and conscious decision. ...

Jesus and John the Baptist

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Unification theology (UT) is its teaching regarding the mission of Jesus. According to Unification theology (UT), Jesus was supposed to have received assistance from John the Baptist during his public ministry in Israel. In particular, John should have done everything in his power to persuade the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah. John's failure to do so was, according to the church, the chief obstacle to the fulfillment of Jesus' mission. This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... For the hip-hop producer with the same name, see John the Baptist (producer). ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ Standard Hebrew Arabic: Al-Masih, المسيح), Tiberian Hebrew , Aramaic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ...

The view expressed in UT is controversial, in part because theologians generally say that John fulfilled his obligation to Jesus completely, merely by baptizing him at the Jordan River and declaring that Jesus was the Messiah. UT argues that John was intended to do far more than this.

John's ascetic life in the wilderness was, in the Unificationist view, a preparation period. The New Testament describes John having a significant experience when he met his younger cousin Jesus at John's baptizing spot at Bethabara near the Jordan River. John is quoted as saying to Jesus, "I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me?" Jesus is said to have replied, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." In the Gospel accounts, John then baptized Jesus, and immediately afterward, a dove lit on Jesus as he came out of the water. "And lo a voice from heaven, saying 'This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased'." John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... This entry incorporates text from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia with some modernisation. ... Northern part of the Great Rift Valley as seen from space (NASA) The Jordan River Road sign The Jordan River (Hebrew: נהר הירדן nehar hayarden, Arabic: نهر الأردن nahr al-urdun) is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Great Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. ...

After this event, according to UT, John the Baptist ought to have recognized Jesus as someone to follow, and should have devoted himself to becoming Jesus's chief disciple. As well known as he was in that time, he could have brought large numbers of people to believe in Jesus.

Matthew gives the entire third chapter of his gospel to this story. Mark just touches the high points, but gives the opening 11 verses of his gospel to the story. Luke's third chapter is also devoted to the baptism of Jesus and a spot on match to what Matthew and Mark report as happening immediately afterward. // Matthew is a male given name. ... // Mark may refer to: Curse and mark of Cain, Cains inability to cultivate crops and the necessity that he led a nomadic lifestyle Gospel of Mark, one of the books of the Bible Mark the Evangelist (Saint Mark) Mark of the Beast, a sign or number mentioned in the... Luke is a common male given name, sometimes a shortened version of the name Lucas. ...

Jesus's words

Towards the end of his life, Jesus' words in the Gospels about John were not necessarily pleasant--for example, "He who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he,"^[2] or Matthew 11:12 - "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

John's words: "He must increase"

Much of the controversy centers on the meaning of John's words: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Many theologians have interpreted this statement as an expression of John's humility, indicating his willingness to be brought down to a lowly position of having no followers.

The UT view on the contrary sees this verse as indicating John's arrogance and foolishness. If John had followed Jesus as a disciple, he would have easily become Jesus's chief apostle (instead of Peter). As Jesus's following "increased," John as Jesus's right-hand man would also have "increased."

The crucifixion

According to UT, it was John's disbelief in Jesus which led to the crucifixion of Jesus. UT interprets the following passage as indicating that the people should believed that Jesus was the Messiah:

Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent" (John 6:28,29)

It was because of John's failure to support him that Jesus had to go to the cross.

It has long been a source of consternation to Unification Church members that many Christians impute to UT the view that Jesus failed, although UT clearly teaches it was rather John who failed.

References

The Unification Theological Seminary, located in Barrytown, New York, began its first classes in September 1975. ...

External links

• The Divine Principle Home Study Course is a relatively brief but well-written introduction to Unification Theology.
• Unification Theology by Young Oon Kim (complete book online).