Reading Life Through The Principle - Day 2

Good evening. It's our second day of our workshop together with Uncle William. I just can't wait to hear what he has prepared for us because I'm very sure that he has prepared with a big heart, and I feel that we're very lucky to be here. We're very blessed to have him here, so please give him a lot of energy and encouragement from the spirit world so that he can really convey everything that he would like to share with us. I'd also like to pray for everyone present on this call so that we can listen with open ears and open hearts.

Thank you very much, Sandra, and welcome back, everybody. It's really good to see so many familiar faces, either from yesterday or from previous workshops or times you've met over the many decades. I'm happy to see you all again. I'll carry on from where I got to yesterday. One thing I wanted to say, following on from our discussion yesterday, is that after the lecture, we carried on chatting for about an hour. Somebody from Belarus asked me how to persuade Christians about the Trinity. I had a conversation about this, and I thought maybe the best thing to do is not to argue with them but to ask them why they think it's so important that someone should believe this particular doctrine about the Trinity. Why do they think it's so important that people should believe this particular doctrine about Jesus? Is believing a particular doctrine about Jesus and the Trinity more important than how you live your life? I think that's probably a good place for them to start trying to evaluate their own faith and the reasons why they believe what they believe and what is most important for them.

Usually, they draw the line between who is Christian and who is not by whether you believe Jesus is God or whether you believe in the Trinity. You can get into endless arguments about that, and I don't think you ever win. A better thing to do is just to ask questions: Why do you think it's so important to believe this about Jesus? Do you think it's more important to believe this about Jesus than to love Jesus? Then you can start to take the conversation to a different space, a different level, and you can start to develop a different kind of conversation which is more about God, one's personal spiritual life, and one's own personal relationship with Jesus than just having an argument about who Jesus is.

Yesterday, I was looking at the importance of stories and the significance of stories, and how it is that values are passed on through stories. Whether we like it or not, our own life is constructed as a narrative. We have these stories running around in our heads, and the stories that we have are often the stories we've inherited. We may have inherited them from our parents, from our spiritual tradition, or from our national tradition and fairy stories. These stories are ways through which certain kinds of values and assumptions about the nature of reality are transmitted and passed on from generation to generation. Many people have basic assumptions about the nature of reality, and often they haven't thought them through. In fact, very rarely do people ever think through the basic assumptions they have about life and the nature of reality.

That's why I want to try and uncover where these basic assumptions come from. One of the things I pointed out was, for example, the Christian doctrine of predestination. Where does that come from? Well, that's something that was inherited as Gentiles, non-Jews, entered the Christian church. They brought these basic assumptions about fate into the Christian church, and these became the basis for the whole doctrine of predestination. People often don't realize that, so we need to understand these assumptions. I was trying to unpack and uncover some of these assumptions from the Greek stories, the Greek myths, which are one of the main stories that underpin European or Western civilization and culture. The other set of stories that underpin our Western European culture and civilization are the stories in the Bible. I want to contrast them with these Greek stories. You can see the difference: one is Hebraic, and one is Hellenistic.

We often talk about Hebraism and Hellenism, but in the Divine Principle book itself, it never unpacks what Hebraism means, what Hellenism means, what the values of Hebraism are, what the values of Hellenism are, what the basic assumptions of one tradition are, and the basic assumptions of the other tradition. What are the basic stories of one tradition and the basic stories of the other tradition? That's what I was talking about yesterday: some of the basic assumptions, values, and stories that underpin the Hellenistic tradition. I want to look at the basic assumptions and stories that underpin the Hebraic tradition. This is an alternative myth about Genesis. As I said before, myth doesn't mean it's not true; it just means it's a particular kind of story, a sacred story that embodies and transmits truths. To every originating culture, their myths are true, but they're not true in the scientific sense of being literally true; they're true because they embody and transmit truths.

The Bible itself speaks to us about the origin of the universe in its makeup, not in order to provide us with a scientific treatise, but in order to state the correct relationship of man with God and with the universe. That's what John Paul II said; he must be right. People who think the universe was literally created in six days have a misunderstanding of the nature of this story because that's not what the Pope believes. He doesn't think this is supposed to be a scientific account; it's a myth that explains the relationship between us and God and us and the universe. So that's what we're going to be looking at. I'm not going to repeat all this, but as you all know very well, God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. Let's try and unpack some of the meanings of this story, which is Genesis 1.

The first thing it says is, 'In the beginning was God.' The biblical point of view, the biblical myth, is that there is only one God, and it starts with God. It assumes the existence of God. It's not like the Greek myths, which assume and talk about many gods. In the biblical tradition, there is only one God who is supreme and has sovereignty. There is only one God, and also that God is good, and everything God created is good. After each day, God said, 'It is good,' and after the creation of humanity, Adam and Eve, God said, 'It is very good.' We can see from this that everything God created is good, and therefore that God is good as well. God was happy when He saw that things were good. This is also in contrast to parts of the Greek myth, which regard the physical world as the creation of an evil god.

According to the biblical myth, everything was created by God, and everything is created for a purpose. That means there is meaning behind everything that exists. Things do not disappear randomly without any sense of purpose; everything is created for a purpose. Because everything is created by God, that means we can investigate the world in which we live because the world we live in is a good world created for a purpose. The biblical myth also presents a very radical idea: human beings are created in God's image. This is totally different from the Greek myths and the myths of many other religions. Human beings, in creating the image of God, have unique divine eternal value. This leads to the idea we often talk about: human rights, where human rights themselves have no philosophical grounding. The grounding for the biblical view of the value of the individual is that every single individual is a son or daughter of God, created in the image of God, and therefore every single individual has unique divine value.

Now, that's the source of the value of human beings in the biblical tradition. A long way down the line, you can talk about human rights, but that's a philosophical basis for the biblical view of the value of an individual. Because we're created as God's children, that means God cares about us. Again, this is very different from the Greek tradition, where the gods don't care about human beings. Human beings are the playthings of the gods. If you read the story of Prometheus, you can see there's a lot of hostility by Zeus towards human beings because Zeus didn't want human beings to have fire and punished Prometheus for giving human beings fire. This is a lot of the basis for the idea of conflict between religion and science. That doesn't come from the biblical tradition; it comes from the Greek tradition. The idea of conflict between religion and science is rooted in that tradition.

God cares about us, but again, God created human beings in His image, and like this, male and female He created them. On page one in the Bible, you have equality and the equal value of masculinity and femininity, the equality and the equal value of men and women. Page one in the Bible again is very different; it's not a patriarchal view. The philosophical basis in the Bible is not patriarchy; it's not the idea that men are more important than women. It's completely alien to the biblical tradition from page one. God created and breathed His spirit into human beings, so we became speaking beings. We can speak, we can think, we can act, and we can take responsibility. Also, the idea that things grow in stages comes from this. There's morning and evening, and that was the end of the day. The idea in the Bible is that time is linear. This is a really interesting idea which I want to explore a bit more.

Jonathan Sacks explained that for the ancients, time was cyclical, matching the slow revolving of the seasons and the generations—an endlessly repeated sequence of birth, growth, decline, and death. Many societies are structured around the seasons, and nothing ever changes. The years, decades, centuries, and even millennia pass by, and nothing within the society changes because their view of time is cyclical. Until Israel appeared on the scene, all cultures were like that, and some still are. Nothing seems to change; it's a planned society. All the societies are agricultural societies based upon the organization of agriculture and irrigation, and these huge canals and ways of bringing water to the fields have to be organized in a certain way. It happens like this every year according to the seasons, and people basically tie their whole life to that.

Cyclical time is time as it appears in nature. For a lot of people, many cultures thought that's all it is; nothing ever changes. The Bible is a radical break with this way of seeing things. God is to be found in history, not just in nature. Ancient religions find God in nature, and nothing ever changes, but the Bible says God is not only found in nature but also in history. This idea means things can change, and things do change. Until Abraham and Moses, no one thought of time as a journey in which where you are tomorrow will not be where you were yesterday. You have Abraham, who I will talk about later, going on a journey from Ur to Haran and then being called to go down to Canaan, not knowing where he is going. Here you can see time is a journey, and the future can be different from the past. This is very different from the deterministic view of the Greeks, where the past determines the present and the present determines the future. The biblical view is that the past does not determine the present, and the present does not determine the future. It is possible to change; the future is open. We can make choices and decisions, and we can create a different future.

In the Bible, a new concept was born of a future substantially different from the past. From the time of Abraham, there is a restless attempt to reckon with the feeling that the way things are is not the way things have to be. We saw looking at the Hindu myth that the way things are is the way things are supposed to be. It's fair and just that there should be a caste system. From the time of Abraham, there's a strong sense that the way things are is not the way things have to be. In fact, the way things are is not the way things are supposed to be; things are supposed to be better, and the world is supposed to be based upon justice and upon fairness. This is where all the revolutionary movements to change the world and make the world a better place start from this point: recognizing that time is linear and the future can be different from the past. That's the first lesson you can draw from the myth of the creation of the world in six days. There are lots more you can draw as well, and then, of course, the next chapter, chapter two in Genesis, is the story of Adam and Eve and the talking snake and the fall.

God created Adam and then the Garden of Eden, placing Adam in the garden to look after it. This establishes the relationship between human beings and the natural world; God created us to care for it. The job given to Adam was to be a gardener, responsible for the natural world. While one might think that God does the gardening, the reality is that neglect leads to weeds. The roots of modern environmentalism and the ecological movement can be traced back to this idea of stewardship.

Additionally, God gave Adam and Eve free will and responsibility. He instructed them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, stating that if they did, they would surely die. This illustrates that they had the freedom to choose, but they were also accountable for the consequences of their decisions. This concept of free will contrasts sharply with notions of fate, determinism, and predestination. From the very beginning, the story conveys that human beings possess genuine free will and responsibility.

In Genesis 2:20, God created Eve as a companion for Adam, highlighting that men and women are made for each other and are complementary. The biblical account describes the marriage of one man and one woman, stating that a man will leave his parents and cling to his wife, becoming one flesh. This establishes the ideal of monogamy right from the start, even though polygamy appeared later in the Old Testament. The notion of free will and responsibility is further emphasised by the fact that when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, it was a mistake, indicating that evil is not a creation of God but rather a result of human error.

This perspective diverges from the Greek understanding of reality, which suggests that good and evil are intertwined in the universe. In contrast, the biblical view posits that evil is a mistake and not a necessary part of existence. If evil is not necessary, then restoration is possible. The lessons embedded in these early chapters of Genesis encapsulate the Divine Principle, including the principles of creation and restoration. These stories have been read for thousands of years, revealing profound meanings that can be unpacked at various levels.

When we read the Divine Principle, it is described as a new expression of truth, with Genesis 1 and 2 serving as the old expression. These stories have been transmitted through generations, allowing individuals to glean lessons from them at different stages of life. As children hear these stories, they can interrogate their meanings, leading to deeper understanding as they grow older. Some may question the fairness of the narrative, particularly regarding the creation of woman as a helper for man, which can be perceived as sexist.

To address this, it is essential to examine the original Hebrew text. The term used for 'helper' in Hebrew is 'ezer,' which has roots meaning to rescue, save, and be strong. This suggests that Eve is not merely there to perform domestic tasks; rather, she is Adam's saviour and deliverer. The Hebrew phrase 'kenegdo' indicates that Eve was designed to be Adam's mirror opposite, possessing qualities and attributes that complement his own. This understanding reveals that Eve is Adam's equal, endowed with essential strengths that he lacks.

In Genesis, it is stated that God created man in His likeness, creating them male and female and blessing them. The Hebrew word for blessing, 'barak,' means to kneel, which connects to the idea of receiving God's empowerment. Without God's blessing, individuals struggle to achieve mind-body unity and live meaningful lives. For instance, those battling addiction often find that acknowledging their need for help is the first step toward recovery. This principle applies to various aspects of life, including relationships and financial management.

The Hebrew Bible presents God as a being of heart, intellect, emotion, and will. God is depicted as a figure who grieves for His children, demonstrating His compassion and love. This understanding of God as a being of heart is foundational to the Unification Thought view of ethics, which emphasises the importance of relationships and the different kinds of love that exist between individuals. The concept of the four great realms of heart further illustrates the need for creativity and sensitivity to God's heart and the hearts of others, enabling us to inherit God's nature.

Justice, God gave us a family, the ability to multiply, to marry, and to establish a family. As the Father says, the family is a school of love, allowing us to learn and inherit aspects of the divine nature. God is also a God of creativity, granting us the ability to create freedom and responsibility. Adam was instructed to look after the garden and make the environment beautiful, which reflects God's nature of creativity and the laws of creation.

All of this is contained in Genesis One. The first blessing is to be fruitful, which means to become a wholesome person and to create and complete our character. This is an existential reality for every human being; through everything we think, say, and do, we create our character. Whether one believes in God or not, this is simply the way life is. The way I am today is a result of everything I have thought, said, and done in the past, and the same goes for everyone. The great thing is that I can change my thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and how I treat others. I can become a better person tomorrow than I am today or was yesterday.

In English, this is often translated as 'You be perfect, because your heavenly Father is perfect.' However, the word 'perfect' comes from a Greek philosophical understanding. No one can be perfect, as perfection is unattainable. The Hebrew Bible, which Jesus spoke, suggests that we should be wholesome, complete, and mature. When translating from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek, there was no equivalent word, so 'perfect' was used. In reality, it is about being complete and at peace with oneself, free from contradictions. This concept ties into mind-body unity, where our physical desires should express spiritual values. We should learn to control our bodily functions, which is part of growing up and becoming mature individuals.

As children, we learn to manage our physical needs, such as eating and sleeping, in a way that reflects spiritual values like beauty, truth, and goodness. This gives meaning to our physical desires. When we achieve mind-body unity, we experience incredible joy, as seen in activities requiring complete concentration, such as billiards or snooker. Living a virtuous life is also essential, and one of the most important virtues connected to mind-body unity is keeping promises. Our words and deeds should align, and we should avoid harmful habits like drinking and smoking, which detract from our ability to enjoy life and connect with others.

Buddhism offers an interesting insight: what we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life for tomorrow. Our life is a creation of our mind. If a person speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows them. Conversely, if one acts with a pure mind, joy follows like a shadow. Every action leaves an imprint on our mind, and these imprints eventually produce their effects. Our mind is like a field, and our actions are like sowing seeds. Virtuous actions sow seeds of future happiness, while non-virtuous actions sow seeds of future suffering. These seeds remain dormant until conditions arise for them to ripen, leading to their effects. Each individual is responsible for their own actions and their consequences.

The second blessing is the ability to create a family, which is a traditional Christian teaching. The love of God and the love of man are not two separate loves but aspects of the same unifying love. In marriage, a husband and wife united are seen as the image of God. As St. Paul said, when we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us. This expands into different kinds of love, creating love, life, and lineage. The third blessing is dominion over creation, which involves being creative. God placed man in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it, giving humanity stewardship over creation and the opportunity to inherit God's creativity and live in harmony with nature.

These blessings are deeply connected to the Hebrew Bible. The Lord instructed Moses on how to bless the Israelites, saying, 'The Lord bless you and protect you.' This blessing encompasses material prosperity, but it also serves as a reminder not to become complacent or decadent. Wealth should not lead one to believe they no longer need God's blessing. The second blessing, 'The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you,' emphasises the importance of recognising others and leaving a positive impact on the world. Smiling at someone can create happiness and connection, reinforcing the idea of human relationships.

The final blessing, 'The Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace,' highlights the importance of inner peace. When we are at peace within ourselves, it is easier to be at peace with others. Experiencing God's presence can bring about this peace. The teachings also emphasise the importance of being a true teacher, parent, and owner, where words and deeds align. A true teacher must practice what they preach, and a true parent embodies the heart of a servant. True ownership involves caring for what we have and sharing freely with others. All these roles are rooted in the philosophical basis found in Genesis.