Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 54
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 2: God’s Homeland and the Peace Kingdom
Speech 1: The Background and Significance of the Founding of the Unification Church, pg 195-198
The Background and Significance of the Founding of the Unification Church
July 15, 1970Unification Church Headquarters, Seoul, Korea
Visit of seven religious leaders of the Association of Religions in Korea
I would like to praise the recent establishment of the ecumenical and interdenominational Association of Religions in Korea. Through the Association of Religions in Korea, I hope all religions will achieve greater harmony and so form a strong spiritual foundation for our people.
In addition, I would like to thank those of you who have founded the Association of Religions in Korea for having included in your group the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, in the spirit of mutual cooperation. I sincerely thank you for visiting our headquarters in spite of your busy schedules and challenging circumstances.
I sincerely ask that the Association of Religions in Korea vigorously pursue activities that go beyond denominations; furthermore, that it will be an axis that can play a central role in Korean society, and that by standing in the vanguard of a new and beneficial movement it will contribute to the renewal of that society.
The Unification Church was founded according to the Will of God
Now, what I would like to briefly tell our guests here is how the Holy Spirit Association was founded. I believe the force behind my founding the Holy Spirit Association came from the Will of God, or the Divine Will, more than merely from human will.
As you well know, human society today and in history does not advance based just on the will of people. On the contrary, society advances toward one goal that is based on a greater Will, which is centered on God. From that viewpoint, if the Holy Spirit Association were founded only by the will of human beings, I do not think it would contribute much to the world, to the future or to the flow of history. Accordingly, I founded this new religion based on the Will of God.
Religion, I believe, is the institution that is able to combine the Will of God and the will of humanity. Religion not only has to have God at its center, it has to embrace everything all people are longing for.
Then, what is the Will of God? The Will of God is not focused on any particular society; it goes beyond societies and nations. We cannot complete the Will that God desires unless we adopt such a viewpoint. We can understand this by looking at human history.
In this sense, the will of humanity also must not be focused on any individual’s will or single group’s will. To be one with the Will of God, it must be put into a greater context at the world level. I believe the mission of religion is to unite these two wills internally and externally.
Then what is needed in order to bring God and humankind into oneness? There must be something that is able to unite the love of God and the love of human beings. The love through which human beings can become one with God is not centered on a particular individual, a particular society or a particular nation. Rather, people have to achieve a bond of heart that loves humankind and the world, going beyond particular nations.
In this sense, the Will of God and the will of human beings must be bound together in the form of a religion, and the center of this religion must be love. This love must be a love that is not exclusively for any particular society or nation; rather it must be a love that goes beyond the world and beyond everything. Without this, a religion cannot be true and will lack the foundation to have a global presence.
This is why until now history has moved forward with saints at the center. These were people who took their stand in relationship with the Will of Heaven and not just the will of human beings. Their goal was to benefit not only a certain people, but the entire world, and even beyond the boundary of the world. It is the task of saints to teach this way of life. With this duty at its core, religion can connect the Will of Heaven with the will of human beings. So the saints established the standard for binding the human way to the foundation of heavenly law. However, only teachings that transcend the boundaries of the world can be called the teachings of the saints. Based on these ways, human beings today have established the way of humility and morality.
God longs for a global family of love
When we look at things from this perspective, if God and human beings want to become one, then what is the central point where the two can come together? What is the decisive center that can connect the love of God and the ideal love for which humankind hopes? If God exists, it can only be the place that is closest to God. The base to make contact with the love of God is not a base of love centering on the individual. Unless it is a base of love that can embrace the world, the love of God and the love of human beings will not be able to connect.
Then, where is the most intimate place where the love of God and the love of human beings can bind together? It is the place where God’s Will is at the center and the will of human beings follows it. That is to say, it is the place where God’s love is at the center and the love of human beings adjusts to it. When we seek the position that can be the most intimate, with the love of God at the center, it would be the position of becoming a true son of God.
If there were a true son of God like that, with that son at the center, a true daughter of God would be needed. Then with that son and daughter at the center, it would be necessary to seek a true family that God can love, a true tribe that God can love, a true society that God can love, a true nation that God can love and a true world that God can love. With this understanding, I started the Unification Church of today based on the issue of how to unite the relationship of love between God and human beings on a global standard.
The love of God is surely realized only after going through a historical course, and we know well that the saints pioneered that course at the cost of their lives. So the saints have been guiding humankind until now with the teachings of God, which are centered on the heavenly way.
Then until now who would be the greatest saint among all the saints who have come and gone in history? Of course the teachers of the Confucian classics would be important; but more importantly, we need a religion that teaches how God and humankind can be the most intimate. So which religion teaches that content? When we consider the religions that have endured until today based on this question, it seems to me that Christianity was introduced from a dimension higher than other religions. So the Unification Church was started based on Christianity.
Let us examine Jesus in the context of this question. When he related with God, he did not relate with a nebulous Being; he related with a tangible being who was an intimate part of his daily life. So when Jesus related to God, he called Him “my Father.” In the realm of affection, there is no position higher than a father. So Jesus opened the way for the relationship between God and human beings to be that of parent and children, and he laid the foundation of heart to be able to bind them together. This tells us that in order to realize a world united by the love that God desires, there must surely be a foundation of affection, and this foundation of affection must be even beyond the parent-child relationship.
This is why Jesus called God, “my Father.” He called out, “I am His only Son, who had to come. In the whole universe I am the only person who can receive His love.” In view of this, Christianity more than any other religion is based on the heart of God, gives concrete guidance and envisions God clearly and intimately. Jesus said, in effect, “I am the bridegroom; you are the bride.” More than in any other religion, I consider that this illuminates the best starting point for developing the relationship of oneness with God. In addition, the first-century Christians who followed and believed called each other brother and sister. It was a new religious concept that all people are brothers and sisters.
The world of love that God is hoping for cannot be realized without absolutely achieving this standard of love. The world of love, the final goal, must be established through individuals whom God can love, through the family composed of such individuals, through the tribe composed of such families, through the society composed of such tribes, and through the nation composed of such societies. Without having that kind of loving foundation as a base, the world cannot be bound together in love. This surely has to happen in the course of history.
FFWPU, USA