Introduction and Overview of Returning Resurrection and the Various Reasons - Why We Might Return

I would like to begin with a 7-minute video presentation, based on the Divine Principle text, that articulates I think, some of the foundational qualities of what Unificationists call, ‘returning resurrection.’

Divine Principle text will appear on the bottom of the screen. My own whole sentences or phrases are added up in the top half of the screen where the images appear. In the following transcript of the video, my own words and sentences will use italics.

Note that the use of bracketed words [ ] are sometimes interspersed with the Divine Principle text. These are additions inserted outside of the Divine Principle text but hopefully represent the Divine Principle’s viewpoint.

Divine Principle Video 73 is called “Returning Resurrection” and the transcript text follows:

According to the Principle of Creation, the growth of the human spirit requires two kinds of nourishment. These are the life elements received from God and vitality elements received through interaction with the physical self (in the video, I animate these two energies; the vitality elements flow from the physical self and the life elements flow from God’s essence which is posited in this diagram from a position that reflects both God’s transcendence apart from the created world and God’s immanence which is in the created two worlds of spirit and matter). Spirits can neither grow nor be resurrected apart from the physical self. (I will posit one more quality later in my presentation).

Consequently, the spirits of people who died before they could reach perfection during earthly life, can be resurrected only by returning to earth. Spirit people who seek resurrection, return to earth in order to complete their growth through cooperation with earthly people. By assisting people of similar responsibilities to fulfill their missions, / the spirits may complete their own unaccomplished work at the same time. (note: at this point, the video seems to suggest that spiritual growth requires having a providential mission in order to achieve character maturity and perfection of heart). We call this process [where departed spirits can mature] as returning resurrection.

People can become receptive to good spirits through prayer and other spiritual activities [ i.e. making the world a better place for others ]. Spirit people having similar shared interests (common base), are attracted to them and work together with them. These returning spirit people may give deep inspiration, good health and fortune as they guide their counterparts on earth to accomplish the Will of God. Good Spirits never manipulate people on earth. They inspire, guide and comfort us. They respect our autonomy.

Let us draw an example from the Bible. Jesus referred to John the Baptist, who lived on the earth, as the return of the prophet Elijah. Jesus called him Elijah because in terms of their common mission, John’s body concurrently served as Elijah’s body. The spirit of Elijah came to John the Baptist to help John fulfill the mission Elijah had left unfinished during his previous earthly life.

People who lived during the Old Testament Age (OTA) who kept the Mosaic Law and worshipped God sincerely went to the form-spirit level of the spirit world. When Jesus opened up a higher life-spirit level, these OTA spirits returned to earth to assist faithful people to attain the level of life spirit. Through this assistance, these OTA spirits too received the same benefit: namely, they became life spirits and entered Paradise (note: these resurrected spirits were also receiving life elements from God’ parental love towards adopted children of God).

Compared to Paradise, the region of the spirit world where the spirits of the Old Testament saints were staying, was relatively dark and miserable. Thus, it was called a “tomb” in Matthew 27:52-3.

“the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:52-3)

These verses do not mean that these saints’ decayed bodies were regenerated, enabling them to rise up in the flesh. If the saints had risen bodily from their tombs, their deeds and works would have been recorded, yet we have nothing but the vague report. This was a fleeting spiritual phenomenon perceptible only to those believers whose spiritual senses were opened.

Rather, it describes the spiritual phenomenon of returning resurrection. The spirits of the faithful Jews rose from the form-spirit level of the spirit world where they had been living. They returned to help the believers on earth to benefit from the redemption by the cross, and believe in Jesus and become life spirits. In doing so, they returning spirits also became life spirits.

The spirits of people who believed in Jesus during the New Testament Age (NTA) will return to earth to help faithful people believe in and attend the returning Christ. By thus helping people on earth to attain the level of divine spirits, they too will receive the same benefit and become divine spirits. In returning resurrection, the spirits not only help earthly people, earthly people also assist in the resurrection of the spirits.

Let us elucidate the following verse, Hebrews 11:29-40: And all these, [saints of the old testament age ] though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, [permission to enter the kingdom of Heaven] since God had foreseen something better [God’s kingdom] for us [people on Earth at Christ’s return] that apart from us, they [people in the spirit world] should not be made perfect. [divine spirits in Heaven]

With this explanation, we can understand that this verse accurately depicts returning resurrection. It illustrates that spirits living in the spirit world cannot attain perfection apart from the cooperation of earthly people.

The Divine Principle text focuses on the idea of “mission” for returning resurrection. Divine Principle text speaks of another mission for all religious people or non-religious people for returning: to attend and help the new Christ and his mission on earth.

In the Chung Pyung worldview, the purpose for return is not just about a mission or attendance. It is also about human growth towards perfection / maturity. It is about developing heart and love. Spirits who have been “liberated” have gone through a 100-day workshop in the spirit world. They have reviewed their lives and repented of their sins and fallen outlook. Through tears of repentance, they have washed away traces of the fallen condition in their lives. Through the blessing ceremony in the spirit world, they have removed the final vestige of sin in their lives, the original sin. Then they become what Chung Pyung calls, “absolute good spirits.” Such spirits are not yet perfected. They must continue their growth through returning resurrection with and through us.

The Returning Resurrection video tried to illustrate this additional purpose for return resurrection. In order to grow, we need life elements from God and vitality elements from the physical body. It is my personal view that spirits will forever interact with the physical life in order to sustain their healthy spiritual life with physical vitality energies. Vitality energies are not just for growth but for maintenance.

As I understand the Unificationist worldview, our ancestors are somehow connected to our physical bodies as a kind of extension of their own physical body. Even though their own physical body no longer exists, a part of their bodies does continue on through lineage.

Finally, I would like to address the idea of mission. In the Divine Principle, spirits like Elijah return to accomplish a previous unfulfilled mission. Now that True Father is in spirit world and directing God’s providence from there, he is probably giving new direction and missions to the absolute good spirits. It is not unreasonable to imagine many of them are being assigned new missions. Some of these new missions are probably going to be accomplished with our cooperation.

For Unificationists to return in the future after our physical deaths, we too have to be liberated. We will go to a 100-day workshop in the spirit world. Dae Mo Nim says time in the spirit world is different; a 100-day workshop is actually experienced as 100 years in the spirit world. After this period of reflection and repentance and resolve, we will go to a new spiritual place in the spirit world that reflects our cleansed status. Most likely, we will 1) work with our physical descendants to continue our shared growth towards perfection of heart and 2) we may feel some remorse at having failed to complete any providential missions of the past and may want to return and work with like-minded people on the earth and 3) we may be assign a new providential mission by True Father in the spirit world to accomplish on the earth which may be very different from any previous missions we may have had which served the providence previously.