FFWPU Europe and the Middle East: Religious Truth As Progressive Revelation — David Hanna

A warning not to get stuck in our current understanding - truth has historically come as progressive revelation

A talk given by Dr. David Hanna, head of the North European sub-region of the Family Federation, at an international prayer meeting by Zoom on 8th May 2024.

Good evening, everyone.

Over the last seven weeks we have heard summaries of the lectures disseminated by the Family Federation International Headquarters.

When I heard that this material was being offered, my first thought was, “Is this going to be useful or helpful in getting our message out to the wider world, especially the Christian world?” - that was my real hope, and it still is. David Hanna In my opinion, The Divine Principle rescues Christianity from being increasingly regarded as irrelevant; it rescues religion generally from being side- lined and ignored; and, of course, fundamentally it brings the greatest news - the gospel of gospels - that total salvation is available through the already realised Second Coming. To prepare for this was Christianity’s primary purpose of existence and is the fulfilment of the hopes and expectations of other world faiths as well.

Mother Moon is emphasising that the time is not too late, even it is “ripe” to see a worldwide spiritual awakening and have the immense and rich foundation of worldwide Christianity, especially European Christianity, come metaphorically to the feet of the True Parents.

We are, however, from one perspective, bringing a whole bunch of “heretical” ideas to the Christian world, parts of which have a historical reputation for being “heresy hunters”, avidly clinging to what in their minds is a settled orthodox view.

How then to bring the message of Divine Principle to a wider Christian audience, quickly and successfully - that is the challenge.

I am quite often called to share the Divine Principle content with ministers. I am keen to learn how to do that better and more effectively. Currently, I always begin by saying: “We totally respect First published in 1966 in your ministry, and God’s calling you to that ministry” - we do not Korean: the official version of seek to interfere with that in any way. […] the Unification Principles, Wolli Kangron. First English I also state emphatically - at some later point, when already some key version, Divine Principle, ideas have been shared - that in no way am I saying that those appeared in 1973, revised precious and particular ideas we have believed in until now are version, Exposition of the wrong, indeed they have served us remarkably well and the living Divine Principle, in 1996 proof is that Christianity has grown to be the largest world religion, work that can only be as a result of God’s guiding hand and with Heavenly Parent’s support.

However, the Divine Principle is a new, clarifying and developmental message that has come through Father Moon’s own encounters with the risen Jesus - and through combining revelation and reason - for the benefit of all and for the time we are living in now; it is being spread widely and is bringing extraordinary spiritual revival the world over as part of God’s preparations for us to meet the Lord at the Second Coming beyond denominational, religious and cultural barriers.

I may then say that central to this understanding is that the Messiah is most helpfully to be considered as a

New Adam, bringing forward these ideas that, under the Christology chapter were topics left to a seven- day workshop in the past. And just as there was Adam and Eve, the messianic, saving work is ultimately to be completed by a couple - a New Adam and New Eve. So the Holy Spirit was given as a counterpart to Jesus, making them the Spiritual True Parents giving rebirth to all humankind.

Sun Myung Moon in prayer on Wednesday 17th April 1935, when Jesus first appeared to him. Painting by Shigeyoshi Watanabe from 1982

Well, you can fill in all the blanks. The point is: I never tell a believer (by words or by implication) that what they believe is wrong. Mainly because I do not consider it to be wrong - it is just their belief, and it has served them and countless others well in the past as an anchor for our faith, with God’s approval and blessing. But now we are in a new era, and God is sending us some important words of clarification - we need to become new wineskins.

Jesus preaching. Illustration: Biblical illustration of Gospel of Mark Chapter 3

Jesus, of course, faced as a major obstacle to the success of his mission, the stubborn adherence of Jewish religious leaders to the letter of the law.

There are six famous sayings of Jesus that all share the same pattern: They take the form - “You have heard it said […] but I tell you”.

This formula is an ingenious one. It avoids having Jesus look as though he is ignoring the Torah, the traditional Jewish teaching, and just bringing in his own teaching - rather it shows him as one who is respecting the Torah and bringing a new seriousness to the core beliefs of the people.

These so called “Antitheses” demonstrate how Jesus approaches the task of interpreting and applying the Torah.

Using this formula, Jesus refers to a commandment, provides a common understanding of that commandment, and then provides an interpretation which strengthens the force of the commandment. These sayings are really ‘intensifiers’, and I don’t think “Antitheses” is a good name at all, they are not opposites. They build on the traditional understanding rather than oppose it. Thus, it is not enough “not to kill”, or “not to commit adultery”. It is not enough just to love your neighbour, while still having hatred for your enemy.

Jesus is saying that true righteousness, a person in God’s image, does not even consider doing any of these things, but forgives wrong and loves enemies freely.

It is God who must guide not only the deeds of believers, but also their motivation and emotions, their genuine, unseen self. Such striving for perfection signals the breaking dawn of the Kingdom of God, the first light of the new age of righteousness and justice breaking in upon the earth.

Why I mention this is because I believe the reception of the new material - concerning the “Status and Value of True Parents” - could have been greatly assisted by this approach. As it is, there is really no reference to what has been our understanding in the past, or what has been taught, even by Father Moon himself, and I can see that it leaves thinking, faithful members wondering what has changed and why - worrying less about the status of True Parents, ironically, and more about the status of the accepted truth.

Without the connection to the “You have heard A pre-publication version of “True Parents’ Status it said,” it seems to imply that what we thought and Value from the Viewpoint of Heaven’s before was wrong, but I don’t think it is Providence” intending to say that at all - rather it is making us aware of just how serious is the understanding upon which we base our faith, and how much the world needs this intensification of understanding and should grasp the full implications of the truth already revealed, but perhaps imperfectly, or not fully shared up until now.

We must not be stuck with one way of understanding, or eventually we will become unstuck - like the Jews in Jesus’ day, or a faithful Christian whose rigid beliefs might become an obstacle to understanding how God is working today. And as Unificationists, we are not immune from the same tendency. You will remember how the introduction to the Divine Principle speaks of history as a history of progressive revelation.

However, we do have to be very careful as to how we address the beliefs and understandings that underpin a person’s life of faith.

My purpose here is not to criticise the material we have been given but to stimulate YOU into putting the important knowledge that we hold in our hands into a form that can have real, positive, and rapid results - this is our job; it is your job and it’s my job.

Let us therefore think carefully about how best to deliver the truth that God has given us for our use today, and in such a way that there are NO CASUALTIES.

Let us work to make our wonderful bundle of “heresies” the new orthodoxy.

Thank you and God bless you.

“Religious Truth as Progressive Revelation” - text: Dr. David Hanna

Related to progressive revelation: Unchanging Truth and Its Changing Expression Also related to progressive revelation: The 3 Blessings and the Process to Fulfil Them Also related to progressive revelation: Essential Motherly Part of Messianic Mission Also related to progressive revelation: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother) Also related to progressive revelation: History of God: from Yahweh to Father to Parent And also related to progressive revelation: In-Depth Look at the Fatherly and Motherly God More, related to progressive revelation: The Meaning of History from Viewpoint of God Yet more, related to progressive revelation: Failure of Key Persons Related to Jesus Still more, related to progressive revelation: Amazing Parallels to Jesus and Holy Spirit Even more, related to progressive revelation: Key Role of Christianity the Last 2000 Years And yet more, related to progressive revelation: The Unification Principles And still more, related to progressive revelation: Brief about the Teachings And even more, related to progressive revelation: The Teachings in a Nutshell And even more, related to progressive revelation: God and Human Beings

HAK JA HAN … I JAPAN … RELIGIOUS FREEDOM … I COMMEMORATING …

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Ill The3 Blessings And The Process To Fulfil Them Mays, 2024

Epigenetics And New Holistic View Of Evolution May 6, 2024

Unchanging “’ Truth And Its Changing Ex pression May 5, 2024

New insight into the concept of Evolution By God - our Heavenly Parent Principle Of Giv ing And Receiving Heavenly Parent

~ - May 4, 2024

Part 1 of a lecture given by Dr. David Hanna, head o f the · ·· : ~;;.. New Insight North European sub-reg ion of the Family Federation, at an international prayer meet ing by Zoom o n 27 th M a rch 2024. --· ~ :,,.J1,’., ✓- -.. … On Evolution - ‘~ A Feature Of Creation See part 2, part 3 May 2, 2024

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seven lectures, and the t it le is “ Heaven ly Parent”. It has Jin-su Hwang, professor of theology at Sun Moon University, as the orig ina l aut hor and presenter. Search. IEII Th is lecture dea ls largely with the shift from referring t o God o r addressing God as “ Heaven ly Jin -su Hwang, professor Father” to “Heavenly Parent”, of theology at Sun Moon Categories what this means, and why we University, Asan, South should do it. It doesn’t set out t o Korea. Photo (2023): present a comprehensive view of Screenshot from video by God as i n Unification Theology. {! -8 ~el~ f!J.2!IZ 21

I have to say, as a rule, I don’t give other people’s lectures, but I can try here to g ive a summary of Send us a message what I consider to be the most important parts of this presentation and then add, if I may, some of my own thoughts First Name Last Name or comments at the e nd. So my apologies in advance t o Professor Hwang for what I’ve done to his presentation.

Actual ly, there’s really noth ing in th is lecture that you wi ll find d ifficu lt to accept, I bel ieve, and at points the arguments are Email * rather, sha ll we say, academic. Email Address But I’m very happy that these lectures in general introduce us to some of the professors of the higher-level institutions that Your Message * the True Parents have founded. They have all made g reat efforts to fu lfil thei r brief.

Professor Hwang starts by expressing his interest i n how we /, teach our children about Heaven ly Parent, and how we educate them about the historica l development in religious Submit understand ing that takes us from Jehovah t o Heaven ly Father and then to Heavenly Pa rent.

There are f ive main poi nts addressed in th is lecture. The fi rst is taking us back to Mother Moon’s words, the second, reminding us of God’s dua l characteristics of mascul inity and fem ininity, as explained in the Exposition of the Divine Principle. The third point is making c lear that our view is not a form of dualism, the fourth is looking at the reasons w hy God has been addressed h istorica lly as Heaven ly Father. And lastly, the final point provides some reasoning as to why the “Era of the Heavenly Kingdom” (“Cheoni lguk era” in Korean) is the era of the Heaven ly Parent.

Here is Mother Moon speaki ng just prior to w hat we ca ll Foundation Day in 2013,

“We must now change how we address God. When we pray, we w ill change [the Korean word] ‘Hanani m’ to [the Korean expression] ‘Haneul Bumoni m’. This is LULU. J-Jhoto: /-/-WfJU . ‘Heavenly Pa rent’. It is smooth in English and is also meani ngfu l in Korean. The refore, when you pray, the very f i rst words you utter should be ‘Heavenly Parent’ […]. (Speech by Mother Moon 7 th January 2013 i n Gapyeong, South Korea)

D r. Hwang refers to a further passage from Mother Moon , from 15t h Ju ly 2019,

“God c reated a man and a woman. What you need to know is that God, our Creator, exists as God the Father and God the Mother, and that is the sta rt ing point of the creation of the heavens and the earth. God created our first ancestors as a man and a woman, i n the divine image. This was the principle of c reation by which our Creator made heaven and earth.”

The Exposition of the Divine Principle shows its roots in oriental

philosophy with reference to the yang and yin of God that is manifested in all created bei ngs, culm inating in human bei ngs as male and female. Exposition of the Divine Principle, published 7996. The explanation of the pair syst em is basic Divine Principle that I believe we’re all very fam iliar with. The yang and y in principle gives rise to gender disti nctions in the natu ral world.

Personally, I don’t f ind the Unification Thought examples of this that are g iven, to be so helpful. So allow me to inj ect an explanation.

Mascul inity is associat ed w ith yang qualities such as strength, assertiveness, and activity, whi le femin inity is connected to y in qual ities like receptivity, nurturing, and intuition.

It’s i mportant to note t h at these definitions, they’re not fixed and can vary depending on cultural interpretations and individual perspectives within Oriental philosophy.

Now, Professor Hwang provides a quotation from Father Moon that describes this process in the fo llowing way,

“Why do we marry? It is to resemble the i mage of God . God is a being w ith dua l characteristics, possessing both an invisible ma le ~ natu re and an i nvisib le Father Moon. Photo: female nature. In one body FFWPU with dua l characteristics, these characteristics are in complete harmony and unity. God is a being that is whole and united. However, these complementary ind iv idual natures within God are different from each other. If the ma le a nd fema le characteristics of God were the same, then one wou ld be an exact copy of the other. But they’re different. Being ma le and female, they must become one, become like seeds, and return to the position of God ‘s ori ginal nature.” (A speech Father Moon gave 18th Februa ry 1998)

And Dr. Hwang has two more quotations from Father Moon,

“We say that God is the masculine subject, don’t we? God appears as a mascu line subject, but also has a fem i ni ne aspect. God is mascu line in the front, but just beh ind there is the feminine character. God created what can be divid ed into inside and outside, or into left and right, o r as upper and lower. As th is unfolds, what emerges is man and woman. Do you understand?” (A speech Father Moon gave 31 st J uly 2000)

“lfwe go to the root of the universe, we come to God, and we need to be aware that God has two natures, a masculine and a feminine nature.” (A speech Father Moon gave 75t h September 7995)

So the fact that God is a being who has a mascu line aspect and a femin ine aspect, is already wel l understood. […]

Professor Hwang g ives a complete definition [of God ‘s masculinity and femininity], which does sound very much like Unification Thought to me. He says that God exists with a masculine aspect, having internal natu re and externa l form of masculine yang- yin, and with a fem ini ne aspect having interna l … . … ,..J ..-..~, … 1 ~… ,…,{:

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fem inine yang-yin. Therefore, God exists not only w ith a masculi ne The latest version of aspect but also with a fem i nine Un ification Thought, aspect. published in 2006.

Hwang adds that this can be clarified inductively through al l things of c reation, which is, of course the argument that Divine Principle puts forward i n line with that of St. Paul in Romans 7;20.

“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely his eterna l power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made, so t hey’re without excuse.”

Th is exercise charts a course to the same conclusion as the Divine Principle. It revea ls God as a being of personality, which Yang-Yin phi losophy alone falls short of doing, and God has both masculine and feminine personality.

Father Moon in h is Wolli Wonbon , the original text that he completed in 7952, but wh ich is yet to be published in Engl ish, appa rently talks of man as the substantial entity of Heave nly Father and woman as the substantial entity of Heavenly Mother. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that these terms are used by Father Moon so early on.

Continued in part 2, part 3.

Featured image above: Dr. David Hanna lecturing in Oslo, Norway on 13th November 2022. Photo: Knut Holdhus