FFWPU Europe and the Middle East: Impressive New Book By Thomas Cromwell — Tossa Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell calls for a revolution “in the way we understand Jesus” in “Jesus in the Divine providence”, published by East West Publishing in December 2022. The key to getting to know who Jesus really was, according to the new book by Cromwell, is a clear understanding of God’s providence - “the invisible hand of God that guides humanity to the fulfillment of our original purpose.” (p. xi)

And there is an “original and unchanging purpose” to what God has been doing all these years. The goal is “to raise up sinless replacements for Adam and Eve who can establish a new Eden, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” (p. xiii)

The first part of the well-structured book, the first 11 chapters, deals with the providential preparations for Jesus - how God prepared a nation and the world for the long-awaited Saviour. Although much space is given to the Biblical account of the millennia to lay a foundation for Jesus, Cromwell also goes into the providential significance of other religions and spiritual movements, including the faiths that appeared in Asia some centuries before New book by Cromwell: Jesus in the Divine Jesus was born - Buddhism, Jainism, Providence Confucianism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism.

The second part of the new book by Cromwell deals with the life and person of Jesus, seen from the perspective of him being a new Adam. We get a detailed look at the providential role of members of Jesus’ immediate family and his influential relatives - John the Baptist and his family. They had the responsibility to embrace Jesus and give him all the support they could. They didn’t. Nor did other key leaders in Judea provide the assistance the Saviour desperately needed.

The third part shows how God has been working to lay a foundation for the second coming of the Messiah. Cromwell points out,

“Finally, the Bible’s narrative ends with the lives of the earliest followers of Jesus, notably the 12 disciples and the apostle Paul, leaving us without a scriptural basis for understanding the providence as it has developed over the past 2,000 years.” (p. xvi)

Cromwell analyses major historical events from the perspective of the Divine providence.

Thomas Cromwell One concept emphasized by the British/American author is the Cain-Abel paradigm. Cromwell has in fact previously devoted an entire book to this subject, his 2021-publication The Triumph of Good - Cain, Abel and the End of Marxism.

As the Unification Principles point out, the original Cain-Abel conflict between two brothers developed into a global conflict in our time. Since the Enlightenment, Cain-type and Abel-type ideologies have emerged. It is these in particular that the author describes, but he also links them in an interesting way to the conflict-filled world today. In addition, he relates them to the problematic relationship between the biblical Adam and Eve’s two sons, and the equally tragic relationship between Lucifer and Adam.

But an interesting aspect of such an analysis is that Cain and Abel should actually have been reconciled at the dawn of time. That was what God wanted. In the same way, God sees the struggle between Cain and Abel forces in today’s world as a struggle between “brothers”.

Cromwell uses the Cain-Abel paradigm to describe Jesus,

“He came on the foundation of victories by Abel as described in the Old Testament. Before him there had been many Abel-type figures in Israel […], but he was the first Abel-type person who was sinless and therefore exemplified an absolute, perfect standard of virtue.” (p. 17)

The same paradigm has as well implications for those who believe in Jesus,

“Because Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus, the absolute Abel, its purpose is to represent Jesus to the world as an Abel-type force for good that can liberate Cain from the dominion of Satan. This mission has broad implications in all fields, from religion to science and politics.” (p. 271)

Cromwell delves into the Cain-Abel paradigm in several of the chapters and looks at “Christianity as global Abel”, “the challenge to save a Cain-dominated world”, “the importance of discerning Cain from Abel”.

The paradigm is applied to the discussion of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Christianity and Marxism.

The culmination of the Divine Providence is a Kingdom of Heaven being established here on the earth. Cromwell emphasizes,

“Our original mind yearns for Eden before the Artistic image of Jesus from multiple sources, Fall, for a world under the dominion of our including the Shroud of Turin (XIV century). Photo: Creator, free from sin and evil. We instinctively Monozigote / Wikimedia Commons. License: CC recognize that the work of salvation is not done ASA 4.0 Int until this kingdom becomes a reality. It is not enough for God to rule in a spiritual realm only; this must happen on earth too. Otherwise, the dominion of Satan on earth will not be ended and the children of God will continue to suffer under Cain-type individuals and governments.” (p. 361)

In the new book by Cromwell, he describes his first encounter with Jesus at the age of 13 and growing up in an Anabaptist Christian movement founded in a Germany just recovering from World War I - the Bruderhof community.

Cromwell was also attracted to the writings of C.S. Lewis and his ability to translate Christian ideals into “the real world of our experience”.

About 50 years ago, Cromwell met a former member of the Bruderhof community. She invited him “to visit a group she was living with called the Unified Family.” He writes,

“The members were followers of a Korean religious leader called Sun M. Moon. I found their teaching challenging but intriguing. The ideas they shared shed a whole new light on what I had learned from the Bible, and provided a clear set of answers to many of my questions.” (p. 376)

Over the years, Cromwell has also met and studied a wide variety of other religions. He worked for 25 years in the Middle East as a journalist, newspaper publisher and peace activist.

Featured image above: The front page of the new book by Cromwell: Jesus in the Divine Providence. Photo: Knut Holdhus

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The Kingdom of Heaven The Kingdom of Heaven - a world overflowing with true love

Ladies and gentlemen, what kind of place is the kingdom of heaven? In brief, the heavenly kingdom is a world overflowing w ith God’s true love. True love is its axis. True love is everywhere, in the outward expression as well as in the inward thought. Everyone’s life is filled with true love from beginning to end.

In the kingdom of heaven, people are born through true love, live in the embrace of t rue love and follow the track of true love until the day they pass on into the next world, the spirit world.

The kingdom of heaven is a natural world w here all people live for the sake of one another. Consequently, antagonism and jealousy cannot be found anywhere in that world.

Photo: Damian fvfarkutt I UnsR.lash It is a world that is not governed by money, position or power.

There, the success of every person represents the success of the whole, the likes of every person represent t he likes of the whole, and the j oy of every person represents the joy of the whole.

The kingdom of heaven is a world fi lled w ith the air of true love, where everyone breat hes true love. Its life throbs w ith love, everywhere and all the time.

The citizens of that kingdom are all linked together through their common membership in God’s lineage. There, the w hole world and all its people are connected in an inseparable relationship, like the cells in our bodies.

True love, the love that is God’s essence, is Heaven’s only governing power. Accordingly, God also exists for true love.

Ladies and gentlemen, you shou ld now devote yourselves to practicing a life of true love. Can you love God more than Adam or Eve did? Can you love God more than Jesus did?

By thoroughly actualizing true love, you shou ld bring you r mind and body into perfect harmony.

You should establish relationshifli of true love with everyone around you. To put it another way, you should perfect a t rue family consisting of three generations of grandparents, parents, and children living together in true love. If you do this wh ile you are on Earth, you w ill be eligible to enter Heaven.

(Excerpt from Peace Messagg_ 7, a speech Sun My_ung Moon Hak la Han and other members of their family held in 72 South Korean cities and in major cities worldwide from 31st Aug. 2006.)

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God God as reality God exists. You may have felt it. So have millions and millions of believers.

Some have felt God through the beautifu l harmony of natu re, and some through religious scriptures.

Others have had spiritual experiences. Millions have had near-death experiences.

In any case, the Creator is not something you just believe exist s. He is reality. He is as much a part of rea lity as you or any physical object. It is not only phy sical things that are real. So me people bel ieve that, in the same way people used to think that the Earth was flat, and that the sky was an arc th at stretched above the Earth.

When asked on an Austral ian TV program, “Do you believe in God ?” famous Canadian psychologist and autho r Jo rd an Peterson

“said he considered himself a deeply religious person, and he acted as if God existed and he was terrified he actually might.”

(Quoted from “Why rock star psychologist Jordan Peterson struggles with this question,” an article by Stephanie Bedo on news.com.au J5t March 2079.)

License: CC ASA 3.0 Fath er Moon says, Unfl_ “We have a mind. The mind is inv isible and may not appear to exist, yet it exists. Does it exist in the head or in the heart? The mind exists throughout you r body. It is present in every cell of your body w ithout exception. The same is true for God. Because this w orld is like His bo dy, He is present everywhere in the w orld .” - From a speech Sun My_ung Moon gave 8th January 7977, quoted from Cheon Seong_Jjy_eong (2005 version), Book 7, Chapter 7.

“Yo u cannot see God. Can you see energy? Since Go d is the original body of energy, you cannot see God Father Moon 25th June 2005 even in the spirit world.” - From a speech Sun My_ung Moon gave 21st October 7979, quoted from Cheon Seong_Jjy_eong (2005 version), Book 7, Chapter 7.

And by all means: God is not unscientific. Natural science does not disprove the exist ence of God .

More about God.

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The Unification Principles

The key to understanding Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han and their movement is the Unification Principles (The Divine Principle), an important part of their teachings and the name of the revelations Father Moon received from God and Jesus during the period 1935-1944.

The Unification Principles explain God’s original ideal, how and why the ideal was not realized, and the long and complicated process God and we humans have had to go through in order to return to a world that is as God originally wanted it to be. In addition to describing the most important events and people in this process, the Unification Principles explain its ultimate goal.

The teaching gives you answers to each of life’s big questions and also gives you a comprehensive understanding not only of your own life, but of the great physical and spiritual reality of which we are all a part.

We see the Bible and the holy writings of other religions as important contributions to clarifying the path each individual must follow in order to live in harmony with God and their fellow human beings. A unique part of Father Moon’s teaching is how God has worked for the past 2000 years, and how God works today.

There is no published edition of the Unification Principles written by Sun Myung Moon himself.

After his life-changing spiritual encounter with Jesus Christ 17th April 1935, the young Korean started to study the Bible intensely for many years. In the margins of his Bible he wrote down notes about insights he arrived at and revelations he received. Those notes are said to have been central when later putting together the Sun Myung Moon’s first encounter with Jesus in texts known as the 1935.

Unification Principles (The

Divine Principle).

The very first manuscript of his teachings was apparently lost in North Korea during the Korean War, while he was a prisoner in a concentration camp. After arriving as a refugee in Busan, South Korea, for one year until May 1952, he wrote Wolli Wonbon (The Original Text of the Principles), an unpublished text.

After the Korean War (1950-1953), and after the Unification Church was founded in 1954, he asked one of his main disciples, Hyo-won Eu, to write a more systematic version of the teachings.

The first book that was published, only in Korean, was Wolli Haeseol (Explanation of the Principles) in 1957, written as an interpretation of and a new perspective on the 66 books of the Bible.

The year after, Eu started the work on the text that became the official version of the Unification Principles, Wolli Kangron (Exposition of the Principles).

It was published in Korean in 1966, and in 1973 in English as “Divine Principle”, after Father Moon had moved to the USA in 1971.

A new and better translation appeared in 1996, “Exposition of the Divine Principle”.

Other versions of the Unification Divine Principle, Principles have also appeared in 1973 English:

“Divine Principle and Its Application”, by Dr. Young Oon Kim, published in 1)1\ l’\I. l’Kl’d 11’ 1.I \’\I\ 11, \l’l’l I< \I J<>’\

1968 and translated into a number of languages. Republished 2004 as “The Living Code - A New Look at the Bible”.

“The Divine 1111’! lll\’J\”f PRJSCll’t.E Principle Study Swd} ( ,uiri,,

Guide”, by Young Whi Kim (Yeong-hwi Kim), one of the first 3 couples, part 1 first published in 1973, part 2 in 1975.

“Outline of the Principle - Level 4”, (Wolli Kangeuian in Korean) by dr. Cheong-hwan Kwak, then International Director of Education of the Unification Church, published in 1980 in English and translated into many other languages. This is a lecture manual with hundreds of diagrams beside the text.

“Essentials of the Unification Principle - Teachings of Sun Myung Moon”, written primarily by Thomas Cromwell, published in 1994 with the approval of the International Director of Education of the Unification Church. The book includes a chapter on Mohammed and Islam as well as one on how we may apply the teachings to our life.

“United Visions - One God, One Truth, and One Human Family”, by Abdelmoumin Ahmed, written originally in Arabic, published in English 2009, written primarily for a Muslim audience. Input from senior lecturers of the Unification Principles.

United Viaiona In 2016, “Divine Principle Lecture Dhh1c l’rim.•i11le Manual - An expanded edition of Let.-ture i\lwmnl _.,_,n’r u-•-- #,_ _ , . , . ._ _ _ _ the Three Hour Lecture Manual” appeared, published by the Family Federation, Seoul, South Korea. It was designed to train members to become lecturers and contains more than 250 illustrations and lots ______ In(ernaliono.l, _ of explanatory notes.

What we call the Unification Principles (The Divine Principle), is simply wolli - .gi 2.I - in Korean. The

Korean word wolli means Unification Principles in Korean. Screenshot principle or principles. Korean from trueteaching.org nouns are not specific about their number - whether they are singular or plural.

Apparently the singular form “principle” was chosen by the Korean members in 1956, when deciding on an English name for the teachings, in order to emphasize that the content makes up a unitary whole. In order to avoid misunderstandings, we use the term “Unification Principles” here as the teachings certainly refer to more than one principle.

Also, it should be clear that the English expression “Divine Principle” is not intended to mean that everything in the book is about some divine principle. Rather, the teachings reveal that certain fundamental principles play a significant role in shaping historical events and the progress of God’s work to create the world he planned from the beginning. Also, an understanding of those principles allow yourself to better master your own life and your relationships.

More about the teachings

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