The Unification Church
At an even greater remove from traditional Christian thought is the Unification Church, officially known today as “The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.” First established in 1954 by the “Reverend” Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), the “Moonies,” as they are popularly called, constitute a particularly aggressive and theologically eclectic Adventist community.
Within this community, the Reverend Moon occupies a position of honor and spiritual influence equal to that of Jesus, and it is therefore arguable whether the Unification Church can be considered a historically legitimate form of Christianity. Though often derided during the 1970s as a “cult,” the Unification Church has consistently denied charges of exploitation of its members. The organization has recently sought mainstream acceptance by devoting considerable sums to the promotion of international peace gatherings and interfaith conferences and by purchasing major newspapers such as the Washington Times. Still, at the heart of this movement we find both the personal presence and teachings of Sun Myung Moon, whose followers consider him the Messiah of our age.Moon’s spiritual journey began in 1936 in what is now North Korea, when he received a vision of Jesus at Easter time. In that vision, Jesus informed Moon that he was to take up the mission of world redemption where Jesus had left off, succeeding where the Christian savior had failed. Believing himself a successor to Jesus Christ, Moon constructed a belief system that combines Christian scriptures with Buddhist, Daoist, and shamanistic elements. Moon’s principal publication, entitled Divine Principle, claims that he has “completed” the Testaments and represents the next stage in the progression of Christian thought. Thus, according to Moon, God can be thought of as an invisible essence, from which all life flows.
God’s original plans for the biblical Adam and Eve were thwarted, however, when the Serpent (Satan) seduced Eve, inspiring her to have intercourse with Adam “prematurely,” thus leading in turn to the fall of the human race. Because the sins of our first parents extend to every generation, the salvation of humankind depends on the appearance of a messiah, who, along with his wife (who serves as a second Eve), will restore the purity of the family and reconcile the world to God’s will. Unificationists refer to Moon’s second wife, Hak Ja Han, as the “True Mother” who is a model of authentic motherhood and spiritual guidance.
The Reverend Sun Myung Moon blessing a mass wedding ceremony in Madison Square Garden, New York.
The ability to receive new revelations extends beyond the Reverend Moon himself to at least one other member of his family. In 1984, Moon’s second son, Heung Jin, was fatally injured in an auto accident, but almost immediately after his funeral, Moon announced that his son had become a “commander in chief” in the spirit world to those who had died unmarried. To ensure that Heung Jin would not remain a bachelor through eternity, a postmortem marriage was arranged between the daughter of one of Moon’s aides and the spirit of Heung Jin, whereupon members of the Unification Church began receiving revelations from him. Perhaps the most important of these messages are those that confirm the status in heaven of both Moon and his wife, who are spoken of as the “True Parents” before whom even Jesus bows in humility and reverence. Additional testimonials from the spirit realm, celebrating Moon’s cosmic preeminence, have come not only from Heung Jin but also from a deceased Unification scholar, Dr. Sang Hun Lee, who informed a Unification receptor that Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, and Jesus all acknowledge Moon’s role as the ultimate redemptive “parent” of humanity. Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith, and no fewer than thirty-six deceased presidents of the United States have added their voices to this
swelling chorus of affirmation. Critics of the Unification Church have seized upon such statements as proof of a “personality cult” at the heart of Moon’s gospel, and it is dear that Moon’s redeemer persona is central to the salvific claims made by the Unification Church and its defenders.