FFWPU Europe and the Middle East: David Hanna - How You Know What You Do Is Good

Words of wisdom: If you want to be good, make sure you have a clear motive, a sense of direction, and a good purpose

A speech given by Dr. David Hanna, head of the North European subregion of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, at an international prayer meeting on Zoom 22nd January 2025. Slightly edited.

I once taught an elderly “sister” the Divine Principle one to one, and she was overjoyed to find a living Messiah. She’d been searching all her life.

But she had one sticking point to signing membership. She had a long-term attachment to the idea of reincarnation through her research of Buddhism, Hinduism and the practise of meditation. Even though she was brought up in the Orthodox Church, and then Dr. David Hanna, head of the as a Catholic, I tried to help her understand through lectures. I even North European subregion of wrote an essay for her to read, but to no avail. She still felt this was the Family Federation for an obstacle. World Peace and Unification

I didn’t really know what to do. But I had a phone call with one wonderful “brother” in the Netherlands who had got to know this lady as well. He recommended that I sit down with her and read together the Exposition of the Divine Principle.

I did this. That is reading the page or so that deals with reincarnation. It’s not a long passage. When we had finished reading, she said, “That’s it!

I finally got it!” And then she went on to sign membership.

This taught me the importance of what I would call “going back to the source”. Often when I’m teaching, I’m painfully aware that I’m giving a reworked and paraphrased understanding which can indeed help people access the material, but it cannot have the spiritual power and clarity of going to the original source.

I was so happy when the True Parents included as number six of the eight great textbooks “World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon” because it contains many quotations from the religions

of the world, from African native religions to even Scientology.

It acknowledges and embraces that rich heritage and God’s word in other holy scriptures. Now of course that’s joined by the three books of the holy scriptures of the Family Federation - Cheon Seong Gyeong, Pyeonghwa Gyeong, and Chambumo Gyeong.

We have available to us an extraordinary wealth of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. I also myself like to read other versions of the Unification Principles. I recommend those and include in lectures also other sources, even non-Unificationist ones.

I noticed in this particular book - you might recognise this one - the Outline of the Principle - Level 4, the old “green book” as opposed to the “black book”. Do you remember? There are still a few around, and you’ll certainly find it online, as I did.

I noticed in this book that there was something that was not included in the Exposition of the Divine Principle, our main text. And I was rather curious - as when one notices these kinds of things. And the text I saw gave rise to this diagram.

It tells us that to do good, three things have to line up. The first is motivation, our reasons and impulse. To do something, our motivation has to be good.

The second is the end goal. The purpose has to be a good purpose. It’s very possible to have a good purpose but not a good motivation, and vice versa.

But that’s not all; something else is talked about. It’s what connects these two. And the term that is used is “direction”. The direction has to be good.

Now, it’s not really explained in the text what that exactly means, but I take it to mean that the way we do things has to be good. It has to be morally good and ethically good.

Diagram Dr. Hanna used to illustrate his speech. Based on the section “Good and Evil Seen from the Viewpoint of Purpose” in “Outline of the Principle - Level 4

And it’s not the case that the end justifies the means, which is a justification so often heard.

With these three lined up, then we can pursue beauty, truth and goodness in all things.

I found this to be very revealing, but I wondered where this came from. And I thought it was only to be found in this version of the Unification Principles.

But then I was reading the Cheon Seong Gyeong as an original source and came across this passage right here.

It says there,

“God is the causal being of the universe. He is the causal being behind all action, the causal being who exerts force, the causal being who gives direction, and the causal being who endows purpose.

We call him a God of personality because he always acts with a clear motive, a sense of direction, and a

Therefore, everything in the world advances in the direction of the purpose that is based on the cause. This is what we mean when we say that God is the being that causes everything.”

“We call him a God of personality because he always acts with a clear motive, a sense of direction, and a purpose.”

This tells me even more. This is not only the way of goodness, but a source of godly personality. If we are to be in the image of God, I reckon that means we too should always work with a pure motive that is good, a sense of direction that is good, and a purpose that is also good.

Then we are free to do what we want, to contribute in our own unique way with great freedom.

[…] It’s quite amazing how much you all are doing. I hope that the words I shared from the True Parents tonight will serve to affirm the goodness of what you are doing. I hope it will even motivate Cheon Seong Gyeong, the you to get started on something and do it with joy and with the English edition of the version of confidence and feeling of liberation of knowing that what you are 2013 doing is good.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Related to words of wisdom: Essence of God More, related to words of wisdom: God and Human Beings Also related to words of wisdom: The Kingdom of Heaven

And also related to words of wisdom: True Love More, related to words of wisdom: The Value of the Family And more, related to words of wisdom: God’s ideal

Still more, related to words of wisdom: God’s Sorrow Yet more, related to words of wisdom: Suffering of God And yet more, related to words of wisdom: Family values

Also related to words of wisdom: Meaningful Marriage More, related to words of wisdom: Living for Others More, related to words of wisdom: Family as School of Love

More, related to words of wisdom: Parents and Children More, related to words of wisdom: Teachings Make Great Strides in New Version And more, related to words of wisdom: In a Nutshell

Yet more, related to words of wisdom: Brief about the Teachings Still more, related to words of wisdom: Relationships Even more, related to words of wisdom: Gender-Balanced Understanding of God and Christ

And yet more, related to words of wisdom: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother) And still more, related to words of wisdom: History of God: From Yahweh to Father to Parent And even more, related to words of wisdom: Religious Truth as Progressive Revelation

Also related to words of wisdom: Essential Motherly Part of Messianic Mission Also related to words of wisdom: The 3 Blessings and the Process to Fulfil Them Also related to words of wisdom: Unchanging Truth and Its Changing Expression

Also related to words of wisdom: The Meaning of History from Viewpoint of God Also related to words of wisdom: Failure of Key Persons Related to Jesus Also related to words of wisdom: Amazing Parallels to Jesus and Holy Spirit

Also related to words of wisdom: Unification Principles

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New insight into the concept of God - our Heavenly Parent Heavenly Parent Part 1 of a lecture given by Dr. David Hanna, head of the Nor th - Big Daily: Authorities Using Outdated Evidence January 16, 2025

Young Members Protesting European su b -region of the Family Federation, at an inte rna tional Horrifying prayer meeting by Zoom on 27th March 2024. Persecution January 15, 2025 See part 2, part 3

Th is is t he second in a new set of seven lectures, and the t it le is “H eavenly Pa rent”. It has Ji n -su Hw ang, p rofessor o f th eolo gy at Sun Moon University, as t he origina l author and presenter. Search. IEII Th is lectu re d eals large ly w it h t h e shift from referrin g to God or addressing God as “Heavenly Fath er” to “Heaven ly Pare nt”, what t his m ean s, and w hy we should d o it . Categories Jin-su Hwang, professor It doesn’t set out t o p resent a o f theology at Sun Moon compreh e nsive v iew of God as in University, Asan, South Unification Theoloqv. l<nrPn Phntn f;,n ;n: J·

Screenshot from video by I have to say, as a ru le, I don’t give other -H&- ‘&! el~ {if£/!;I ‘Et people’s lectures, but I can try here to give a summary of what I consider t o be t he Send us a message most important parts of this presentation and then add, if I may, some of my own thoughts or comments at t he end. So my apologies in First Name • Last Name

advance to Professor Hwang for what I’ve done to his presentation.

Actually, there’s real ly nothing in th is lecture that you wil l find difficult to accept, I believe, and at points the arguments are rather, shall we say, Email • • 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 the True Parents Your Message • have founded. They have all made great efforts to fu lfi l their brief.

Professor Hwang starts by expressing his interest in how we teach our children about Heavenly Parent, and how we educate them about the historical development in relig ious understanding that takes us from Jehovah to Heavenly Father and then to Heavenly Parent. Submit

There are five main points addressed in t his lecture. The first is t aking us back to Mother Moon’s words, the second, reminding us of God’s dual characteristics o f mascul inity and femininity, as explained in the Exposition of the Divine Principle. The third point is making clear that our view is not a form of dua lism, the fourth is looking at the reasons why God has been addressed historical ly as Heaven ly Father. And lastly, the final point provides some reasoning as to w hy the “Era of t h e Heavenly Kingdom” (“Cheonilguk era” in Korean) is the era of the Heavenly Parent.

Here is Mother Moon speaking just prior to what we ca ll Foundation Day i n 2013,

“We must now change how we address God. When we pray, we will change [the Korean word] ‘Hanan im’ to [the Korean expression] ‘Haneul Bumonim’. This is ‘Heavenly Parent’. It is smooth in English and is also Mother Moon 4th Feb. meaningful in Korean. Therefore, 2020. Photo: FFWPU when you pray, the very first words you utter shou ld be ‘Heavenly Parent’ […]. (Speech by Mother Moon 7 th January 2013 in Gapyeong, South Korea)

Dr. Hwang refers to a further passage from Mother Moon , from 15th July 2079,

“God created a man and a woman. What you need to know is that God, ou r Creator, exists as God the Fath er and God the Mother, and that is the starting point of the creation of the heavens and the earth. God created our first ancestors as a man and a woman, in 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 beings, cu l minating in human beings as male and fema le.

The explanation of the pair system is basic Divine Principle that I Exposition of the Divine Principle, believe we’re al l very fam iliar w ith. published 7996. The yang and y in principle g ives rise to gender d istinctions in the natura l world.

Persona lly, I don’t find the Unification Thought examples of th is that are given, to be so helpful. So allow me to inject an explanation.

Masculinity is associated w ith yang qualities such as strength, assertiveness, and activity, w h ile feminin ity is connected to yin qualities like receptivity, nurturing, and i ntuition.

It’s important to note that t h ese definitions, t h ey’re not fixed and can vary depending on cultura l interpretations and individua l perspectives within Oriental philosophy.

Now, Professor Hwang provides a quotation from Father Moon that describes th is process in the following way,

“Why do we marry? It is to resemble the image of God. God is a being w ith dual characteristics, possessing both an invisible male nature and an

invisible fema le nat u re. In one body w ith d ual cha racteristics, t hese … characteristics are in complete Father Moon. Ph o to: harmony and u n ity. God is a be in g FFWPU that is who le and u nited. However, these complemen t ary ind ividua l natu res w ithin God are d ifferent from each o th er. If t he male and fema le characteristics of God were the same, t h en one w ould be an exact copy of the other. But they’re different. Being m ale and fema le, they m ust become one, become like seeds, and retu rn to the position of God’s origina l nature.” (A speech Father Moon gave 18t h Februa ry 1998)

And Dr. Hw ang has two more q u otations from Father Moon,

“ We say that God is t he masculine subject, don’t w e? God appears as a mascu line su bj ect, but also h as a fem inine aspect. God is mascul ine i n the front, b ut j u st beh ind t h ere is the feminine cha racter. God c reated w hat can be d ivided into inside and outside, or into left and right, or as u pper and lower. As this unfolds, w hat emerges is ma n and woman. Do yo u u nderstand?” (A speech Father Moon gave 31s t J u ly 2000)

“lfwe go to the root of the universe, we come to God, and w e need to be aware that God has t w o natures, a masculine and a feminine nature. “ {A speech Father Moon gave 15th September 7995)

So the fact that God is a being w h o has a mascu line aspect and a femin in e aspect, is al ready well understood.[…]

Professor Hwang g ives a complete defi n it ion [of God’s mascul in ity an d femin in ity], wh ich does sound very much like Unification Thought to me. He says that God exists w it h a mascu line aspect, having intern al nature and external fo rm of masculine yang- y i n, and with a feminine aspect having in t ernal nature and external form of femin ine yang-yin. Th erefore, God exists not on ly with a mascu line aspect but also w ith a femi nine aspect.

Hwang adds that th is can be clar ified The latest version o f ind u ctive ly through all th i ngs of creation, Un ificatio n Th o u ght, which is, of course the argument that pu blished i n 2006. Divine Principle p uts forward in li n e w ith that of St. Paul in Romans 1;20.

“Eve r since the c reation of the world , h is invisi b le natu re, namely h is eterna l power and deity, h as been c learly perceived in the t h i ngs that h ave b een made, so t h ey’re w ithout excuse.”

This exercise charts a course to the same conc lusion as t he Divine Principle. It revea ls God as a being of persona lity, which Ya n g -Yi n p hilosophy alone fa lls short of doing, and God has both masculine and femin in e personality.

Father Moon i n h is Wolli Wonbon , the original text that h e completed in 19S2, but which is yet to be p u bl ished in English , apparently ta lks of man as the subst antia l entity of Heaven ly Father and woman as the substantial entity of Heavenly Mother. It ‘s interesti ng, isn’t it , that these terms are u sed by Father Moon so early o n.

Continued in part 2, part 3.

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

More about our Heavenly Parent: Teachings Make Great Strides in New Version

Yet more about our H eavenly Parent: In a Nutshell

Still more about our Heavenly Parent: Brief about the Teachings

Even more about our Heavenly Parent: Unification Principles

And yet more about our Heavenly Parent: Peace Messages

And still more about our Heavenly Parent: Cheon Seang Gyeong

And even more about our Heavenly Parent: Exposition of the Divine Principle

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