Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 120
Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 5: Expansion of the Providential Foundation and the Annual Mottoes
Chapter 2: The Seven-Year Courses and the Overseas Foundation
Section 6: Educating Society’s Leaders, Principle for clergy and professors
Section 6: Educating Society’s Leaders, Paragraph 17
Principle for clergy and professors
Twenty-eight ministers from the Christian churches participated in the first seminar of the Principle for religious leaders hosted by the Unification Church headquarters from November 26 to 28, 1970. Headquarters introduced the Unification Principle to Christian pastors on many subsequent occasions. In 1971 alone, a total of 915 ministers attended 12 seminars, and most of the participants said, through their written reflections, that the Unification Principle touched them deeply. At the same time, the church also hosted the first Professors Invitational Unification Principle Seminar, held from January 10 to 11, 1971. That seminar, attended by college professors, served as the cornerstone for hosting many public presentations thereafter. In this manner, we conducted Unification Principle seminars for leaders from academic and religious circles.
9 Traditional Christianity has continued to oppose me for decades. I have to say that their narrow-minded opposition damages no one but themselves. We need to make those who opposed me welcome me, saying, “The Unification Church is not what we thought.” Since this is what we need to do, I am holding seminars for Christian believers who have opposed us. But local churches seem to consider these events a serious problem. They are causing an uproar, claiming that the Unification Church is taking away their ministers and witnessing to them.
10 Hosting Unification Principle seminars for members of the Christian clergy is quite expensive. Some may suggest it would be better to use that money to build regional headquarters, but I do not think so. Leaves eventually fall, so I believe that the trunk and the branches are more important than the leaves. Scholars stand in the highest position in the Republic of Korea, and ministers stand in the highest position in Christianity, so devotions and sacrifices must be made for the sake of fulfilling my responsibility for the Christian leaders.
If they hear our Principle just once, it surely will become an issue for them. That is why holding a seminar once is great, and it has greater impact the second time, and every time it happens. Some people say that it is a 20th century miracle, but it is not. The question is how thoroughly we can follow the Principle to the letter as we carry out our work. Unless you stand in that position, you all will eventually drift away.
That is why you need to offer devotions and make sacrifices. When you offer devotions, you should not do so carelessly. Care for the unfortunate people as you offer devotions. On many occasions, as I offered devotions I would think to myself that someone was poorly clothed and I would remove my coat and pray for that person in cold weather. Because I had such a standard, I could set the foundation to the extent it exists today.
11 Though Christians marginalized the Unification Church in the past, now they are beginning to welcome us. We began this course toward acceptance in 1971. Through Unification Principle seminars, I brought together and educated more than 1,000 ministers. Quite a few of them were deeply moved and said, “I will devote my life to fight for the religious freedom of the Unification Church.” In fact, there are many ministers who are actually using the Unification Principle in their sermons. You will find these Christian leaders spread throughout Korea. When they give sermons based on the Word, their congregations are fired up with inspiration. After giving Principled sermons just a few times, these preachers come to realize that the Unification Principle indeed is the Word of God.
12 Today we need to unite Judaism and the nation of Israel, which were not able to unite in the time of Jesus. What I am thankful for in this age is that the Unification Church and Christian leaders have begun to associate with one another. Though in the beginning Christians persecuted the Unification Church, we now have reached the level where we can freely associate with Christian leaders. This means that now we are finally in a position to indemnify thousands of years of history.
Actually, three rounds of Principle seminars for invited Christian leaders would have fulfilled the necessary condition, but by June we will have held seven rounds. This year, 1971, is the year of good fortune for horizontally indemnifying 7,000 years of history. That is why I plan to spare no expense and finish the 7th round of Unification Principle seminars by June 1971. When the number of Christian leaders who have attended these events surpasses 600, even by one, we will have fulfilled the condition. However, my plan is to exceed 700. When that comes to pass, I will have fulfilled my responsibility.
You have no idea what a difficult time I have had in fulfilling this condition. I have done most of this work without your being aware of it. The number of Unification Church followers does not matter. What does matter is whether and how we can continue to carry out the necessary indemnification.
13 When the perfect plus unites with the perfect minus, the universe protects them both eternally. When we say that we are trying to become one with Christianity, it means we are trying to save them. Standing in the position of the perfect plus, we are trying to save Christianity, bringing it into the position of the perfect minus. If those in the minus position choose not to unite with us, this will impact the country and drive it to ruin.
A person who acts with truthfulness will have truthful results. Therefore, we should never forget that our path is within the realm of absolute protection, in which all of heaven and earth has the right to protect us.
One leg by itself cannot achieve unity. We need to keep pace, and to do so we need to form a diagonal line and connect with our object partners. That is why the Unification Church needs to achieve unity with Christianity and with the nation. That is the shortest path. When Christian believers are taught the Unification Principle for as little as two weeks, they will surpass the level at which you are now. This is only too obvious. You need to put this into action, no matter what difficulties you face.
14 In the course of restoration, Abel appears only after Cain has been restored. Restoration cannot be achieved by boasting. It needs to take place naturally. I do not participate in the Unification Principle seminars for Christian leaders. Though I do not make an appearance, since they opposed me they need to come to see me and bow their heads. I will not appear until Korea is restored. I need to uphold the dignity of God. It is not that I cannot speak well, but that I have to follow the Will and the laws of heaven.
Your mission is to save Cain. As an individual, you are an individual-level Abel, so you should save Cain on the individual level. If you are Abel on the family level, you should save Cain on the family level, and if you become Abel on the tribal level, you should save Cain on the tribal level. As for the Unification Church, which is Abel on the national level, we need to save the Cain denominations on the national level. Only then can we become eligible to deal with the nation. So, the most urgent matter at hand is how we are to become Abel. When this is achieved, all the hopes of the Unification Church will be realized simultaneously.
15 From January 1971 to early December, we hosted Unification Principle seminars for Christian leaders, and more than 800 ministers attended. In addition, we held Unification Principle seminars four times for professors on college campuses. Were it not for us, these colleges could not present students with a new path. The educational authorities definitely are viewing us from such a standpoint. Also, many people are coming to hold the view that without the Victory Over Communism movement, communism cannot be defeated. Since this is the prevailing situation, we can safely say that we have ascended to the highest point centering on the Will of God.
Now that we have arrived at this point, Unification Church family members must reveal their value as individuals who represent the whole. Bearing this in mind, we have started working with a new national structure. Blessed wives have gone out to all parts of the nation to carry out activities. While the wives are away, members close to their families are working in support of their activities.
16 If the Republic of Korea continues this way, it will come to ruin. This country will perish if it cannot clean up and clear out its weak and corrupt ideologies. In other words, this country needs our Principle. Korea most certainly needs it. At first, when the Unification Church proposed to host Unification Principle seminars for members of the clergy, people laughed at us and asked us whether we seriously believed that the Christian leaders would come. They reacted this way because they had no idea how the laws of heaven work. In any case, at this point it is really not that necessary to have more Christian leaders attend these events. Once three or four leaders in a group come to cooperate with us, the rest will naturally follow along.
17 Where is the path by which the Unification Church can sustain its life? We cannot do this by ourselves. For the Unification Church to survive, we certainly need to move the religious world, which has Christianity at the center. After that, we need to impress many policy makers in the background of the Republic of Korea. In preparation for this, we are educating professors. More than 50 professors attended the third Unification Principle seminar, which just took place and was quite effective. We are going to enormous expense to motivate college professors to research the Principle of the Unification Church. We are doing this so that we can quickly publish a book of critiques and impressions of the Unification Principle coming from experts in all academic fields. Others cannot credibly oppose reading a book authorized by prominent professors. Therefore, we need to make haste to finish this work. The testimonies are from the first three rounds of seminars for professors, and most likely no one will disagree with a book that has such legitimacy.
FFWPU, USA