From our examination of the principle text and biblical history, we have seen that the downfall of man was not caused by mere disobedience, the eating of a fruit or pre-mature sexual intercourse. The primary and fundamental root of the fall lay in Adam's failure to love the archangel as the representative of God. It was due to this failure on Adam's part, that the angel developed jealous feelings and then initiation the words and actions that would later enslave human beings under his dominion. The key reason why Adam failed to love the Angel, was because he did not keep the commandment of God to "Be Fruitful" or grow to perfection. Had Adam kept this commandment, he would have qualified and equipped himself to love the angel. It was Adam's failure to keep this commandment that led to a multitude of other failures.

We must then ask the question of how exactly Adam would have fulfilled this commandment. If this is truly the essence of the Fall, it behooves us to understand how Adam would have fulfilled this command and how and why he failed to do so. Understanding such points are key to fulfilling the requirements of the providence.

Adam failed to love the archangel.

In loving the angel as God's representative, Adam should have sought to understand the angel, appreciate the angel, subjugate the angel intellectually and have a superior character to the angel. However, in order to posses such abilities, Adam first had to keep the commandment to "Be Fruitful" or in other words, Adam had to perfect himself. It is in failing to follow this first commandment to "Be Fruitful" that Adam subsequently failed in his responsibility to love the angel. And as we know his failure to love the angel as God's representative is the ultimate cause of the Fall. Hence in order to fulfill our role and responsibility to love the angel and the rest of the creation, we must first fulfill this same commandment to ""Be Fruitful". We must understand in detail exactly how Adam should have accomplished this commandment. We must know the process in scientific detail so as to bring about our own substantial perfection and regain the qualification to rule the rest of the creation, including regaining our ability and qualification to rule (govern) the angels. It is for this purpose that this essay is being written and presented to you.

How would Adam have perfected himself?

To answer this question of how to "Be Fruitful", let us revisit the principles of creation.

The principle text states:

"All things reach perfection after passing through the growing period by virtue of the autonomy and governance given by God's Principle. Human beings, HOWEVER, are created in such a way that their growth REQUIRES the fulfillment of their own PORTION OF RESPONSIBILITY, in addition to the guidance provided by the Principle. They MUST exercise this responsibility in order to pass successfully through the growing period and reach perfection." (Exposition of the Divine Principle, p. 43, emphasis mine)

In short, according to the Principle textbook, all things of creation grow to perfection (maturity) naturally and automatically. Human beings however do not grow to perfection automatically. There is an additional mechanism necessary to bring about the perfection of the human beings. That mechanism is the practice of "human responsibility".

What exactly, however, is "human responsibility"? In order to accomplish our responsibility, we must have a clear idea of what it is and what it isn't. It thus becomes necessary for us to elucidate exactly what the terms "human responsibility" and "portion of responsibility" mean.

We can view the concept of human responsibility in two ways. First we can see human responsibility as a PROCESS/METHOD and second as a THING OR HABIT OF MIND.

Human responsibility as a process simply means that there is something that the human being must accomplish through his or her own ability, through his or her own free will and free action as opposed to God, spirits, angels or natural law accomplishing such for us. It is a task exclusively left up to human effort. No one else can accomplish this task for us. We are the ONLY ones who can accomplish such a task. Not even God will accomplish this task for us for even the principle text states:

"The principle of creation tells us that man was created to become perfect by carrying out by his free will his own portion of responsibility, in which process EVEN GOD COULD [would] NOT INTERVENE." (Divine Principle, p. 455, emphasis mine)

This notion is quite contrary to common Christian belief. Christianity (i.e. Paulism) promotes the idea that we will somehow be changed mystically, automatically and in an instant simply by meeting Jesus at the second advent. Paul states:

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (I Corinthians 15:52)

It is for this reason why many Christians feel that it is the responsibility of God and Jesus to transform us and to make us perfect. God and Jesus do all the work while we just offer the minimal conditions of belief and church attendance. However, if the principle text is correct, then such Christian thinking is actually counterproductive to our own perfection since it fosters the expectation that God and Jesus will do for us what we should actually be doing for ourselves!!!

So that is our first definition of human responsibility, that is some action or responsibility that we must do by ourselves of our own free will and intellect, unaided by God or other spirit beings. It is totally up to us. By our own conscious, willing effort.

Human responsibility as a thing means to posses a particular kind of ATTITUDE or habit of mind. This means that when something needs to be done, we must be in the habit of thinking that WE are the ones to do it. We are responsible. This is in stark contrast to the Bible's depiction of Adam's attitude after the Fall. Instead of holding an attitude of responsibility Adam became ir-responsible and BLAMED Eve. He shifted responsibility and accountability to someone or something other than himself. Adam said:

"The woman YOU put here with me...SHE gave me some fruit and I ate"

Eve then said:

"The SERPENT deceived me and I ate." (Genesis 3:12-13 NIV)

We can see that neither one of them took any responsibility for their action, but rather BLAMED someone or something else for their failure. They did not take responsibility for their actions. On a side note, it is quite possible that had Adam and Eve taken full responsibility for their actions that they would have substantially "separated from Satan" since one of Satan's prime characteristics is to shirk from responsibility and accountability and blame others.

Let us look at the meaning of human responsibility as an attitude a bit further. Having such an attitude means that you are self-reliant. You look to yourself for the solution of a problem. It means that you seek knowledge and awareness, for in order to act intelligently, you need accurate knowledge and information. The contrasting attitude is that some people don't want to be aware, they don't want to know. They would prefer to remain ignorant, for in their state of ignorance they can always say that they never knew so hence they could not take responsibility. You can see this in the way some Unification Church members reacted to Nan Sook's book. They did not want to read it, because they did not want to know what was inside it, for had they become aware, they would have had to think about what was said and make some response. Such members acted irresponsibly for they did not even take up the challenge to defend their organization against some very real attacks. They also did not trust their own foundation of belief enough to see another person's point of view. We also see irresponsible behavior in the UC when the old line is given that "such and such a person died (in Rev. Moon's family) because we the members did not do our responsibility". I find it very interesting that one, this mysterious responsibility that we supposedly did not fulfill is NEVER clarified and two, no one seems to want to ASK what exactly this mysterious responsibility is.

So, human responsibility can also be seen as a particular attitude of self-reliance, awareness, seeking to know and seeking to act on what one knows. Having clarified the concept of human responsibility, let us then continue our search for the exact method and process for human perfection.

The principle text again states:

"The truth teaches us what it is that our spirit mind desires. When man comes to UNDERSTAND, through truth, what our spirit mind desires, and when by putting it into PRACTICE he accomplishes his portion of responsibility." (Divine Principle, p. 61)

So we see something very, very interesting here! First we learned that there is something that only the human being can accomplish (i.e. human responsibility). Then we learned that this "thing" which the human being must accomplish is a specific practice (action) based on a particular understanding (truth). Hence this act of "practicing" (through our own free will) centered on truth IS our portion of responsibility!!! We must learn and we must act. This is the process.

Hence the formula for human perfection thus far is:

1. Obtain truth (accurate knowledge) and then

2. Practice such truth of our own free will and free action.

According to the principle text, through such a method we will reach perfection. We still, however, need to clarify exactly what perfection is. But before we do, we must further clarify the process that results in human perfection. There is more detail that needs to be added to this formula in order to make the process crystal clear.

The detailed formula is as follows:

Word + Cognition + Belief (faith) + Motivation + Free Action + Vitality Elements + time = Human Perfection

Or...

W+C+B+M+A+Ve+T à HP

Let us then elucidate each part of this formula.

What exactly is "the word"? Students of Divine Principle will recognize that "the Word" is an essential part of our perfection process. For example:

"In order to be resurrected, man must fulfill his responsibility-to believe in and live the Word." (Outline of the Principle, Level 4, p.78)

"The first human ancestors were to become perfect by believing the divine Word." (Divine Principle, p. 55)

"...according to the Principle of Creation, it was God's responsibility to create human beings and give them His Word, while it was the human portion of responsibility to reach perfection by believing in and living according to it. Similarly, in conducting the providence of resurrection, God's responsibility is to give us His Word and guidance, and our responsibility is to believe and practice it in order to fulfill the providence." (Exposition of the Divine Principle, p. 138)

So we can clearly see that according to the Principle textbook, the "Word" is an essential and indispensable part of our perfection process! But again, what exactly is "the Word"? Where does it come from? How do we get it? Furthermore, why would we choose to believe and follow it anyway?

Many Christians think that "the word" is the Bible itself. Many Unificationist think that "the word" is "Don't eat the fruit". Other people think "the word of God" is whatever their pastor or minister happens to be preaching that Sunday. And in a similar way many Unificationist think that the "word" of God is whatever Rev. Moon happens to be saying at the time or whatever "direction" is given by UC headquarters. These concepts may have their merits, however they are not very useful or accurate as it pertains to our analysis of the course to human perfection.

The "word" is much more universal that all of these other concepts.

What specifically then is "the word"? Specifically "the word" in Unification Thought is a cosmic blueprint or code for human perfection. Think of it as "spiritual DNA" or a "spiritual genetic code" for our spirit mind. For those of you who use computers, "the word" can be likened to computer software, whereas our minds are the "hardware". The word is a rational principle that can be "downloaded" by human reasoning faculties. We borrow the term "the Logos" from the Greek language to describe this code. For example, the principle text states:

"Logos is Greek for 'rational principle' or "the Word" (Exposition of the Divine Principle, p170)

Unification Thought adds to this understanding of logos by stating...

" Logos is the unity of reason and law-hence the term "reason-law". Therefore a being with Logos is a being with reason-law." (Fundamentals of Unification Thought, p. 123)

Hence the true meaning of "the word" is a "rational principle" a principle that possesses the necessity of natural law as well as the freedom of reason. A person embodying the Logos is both rational and lawful at the same time. The "word" is our spiritual "DNA". When expressed in human form, this cosmic "word" can take the form of actual human words and symbols. This includes the spoken word, the written word, sign language, human example, images, pictograms etc. Any element that communicates information from one human mind to the other can be considered a "word" in the broad sense. The Logos however has a particular structure and form. Only when human words correspond to the structure and form of the Logos, do such human words have resonating/resurrecting power. We will discuss later what makes one word "true" and another word "false" or rather what allows for human words to have resurrecting power. In short, the principles of logic and intonation have much to do with it.

But first, how are we to receive this word? There are a number of ways. In times past God gave the word (instructions) to man. However, we don't know how Adam and Eve received the commandments to be fruitful, multiply and take dominion. Did they hear a voice in their minds? Did an angel speak to them? Did they figure it out for themselves? We don't know exactly how they became aware of the word, we just assume that somehow they received it. We do know however, how subsequent generations received the word. The people usually had a mediator. For example, Abraham heard a voice and was visited by angels, Moses heard a voice (from a burning bush) and was visited by angels. Mohammed received the Koran from the angel Gabriel. It seems that usually one special person is equipped to receive or decipher instructions from heaven and then has the responsibility of transmitting these impressions to a larger population. It is said that Rev. Moon utilized a combination of methods to discover his insights. He says he saw and spoke with spirit beings and also used his own faculties of reason. For example Rev. Moon said:

"Up to a certain level, spirits can tell you what it is. But for the highest truths, spirits can not help you. They will not tell you because they don't know. And God will not tell you outright. Therefor you have to search, to find out by yourself." (Sun Myung Moon-The Early Years [by Michael Breen], p. 34)

This leads us to the second way in which we can acquire the word, that is to derive the word ourselves by utilizing our own powers of reason.

For example, the principle text states:

"Human beings are endowed with emotional sensitivity to the Heart of God, intuition and REASON to comprehend His Will, and the requisite abilities to practice it. A person who relates to God in this manner WILL attain perfection of his individual character." (Exposition of the Divine Principle, p. 80, emphasis mine)

[note: this is a very interesting quote from Divine Principle, for it directly implies that we have and have always had the means to perfect ourselves by our own effort!!!]

"A person of perfect character understands the Will of God and puts it into practice through his own insight and reason, WITHOUT the need to rely on revelations from God....Hence, it is only natural that we pursue reason and understanding. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, p. 351, emphasis mine)

"Reason refers to the ability to infer by using concepts and comprehend universal truths and the essence of things." (Fundamentals of Unification Thought, p. 18)

Hence, according to the principle text, we human beings are capable of figuring out the "word" through our own powers of reason.

One last point that I would like to mention and that is there are varying degrees of "the word" and that the extent of development our perfection is directly associated with the extent and level of the word given and our capacity to understand the word received. For example:

"Naturally the quality of teaching and the method and extent of giving the truth must vary according to each age, for the truth is given to people of different ages, who are at different spiritual and intellectual levels." (Divine Principle, p.9)

Likewise the chapter on Resurrection in the Divine principle speaks of formation, growth and completion stage "words" which when practiced results in form, life and divine spirits respectively, thus illustrating that the degree of perfection depends upon the extent of the word given and our capacity to receive it.

It is for this reason why perfection was not attained in times past. It was not due to Original Sin as some have speculated, but rather because the level of word given to the people was not as extensive or precise as that which is available to people of our day. Also, the people at those times were not capable of understanding a higher level word even if it had been offered to them at the time. This is a very important point to remember.

The next part of the perfection formula is Cognition.

In addition to there being a "word" there must also be cognition of that word. Cognition means understanding. Unless the word is rendered in an understandable format, our spirit minds will not be able to process the information correctly and thus the information will have very limited use or no use at all.

For example the principle text states:

"The ultimate purpose of religion can be fulfilled only by first believing in and then practicing the truth. But true belief cannot come about today without knowledge and understanding.

Knowledge comes from cognition, and man today cannot cognize anything which lacks logic and scientific proof. To understand something there must first be cognition. Thus internal truth *requires* logical proof. Religion has been moving through the long course of history toward an age in which it *must* be explained scientifically." (Divine Principle p.6 & 9)

Hence even though the word may be available, it must be put in an understandable format relative to the mind receiving it. In fact before we even get to the stage of belief, we must first cognize or understand what is being said.

It is for this reason that modern man requires a logical and scientific approach to understanding spiritual things and ancient man only required a rudimentary understanding.

What makes a word cognizable? First, it should be rendered in a language understandable by the recipient (e.g. French, English, Swahili etc.). Then the information should make sense (i.e. be logical and correspond to empirical fact). It is for this reason why older religions are loosing their appeal to modern man...it is because their ideas no longer make rational sense and can not be empirically proven. This is why the new truth emphasizes teaching religious truth in a scientific and logical way.

The principle text states that:

"Intellectual people cannot be satisfied by merely hearing that Jesus is God's son and the savior of mankind" (Divine Principle, p. 14)

"Knowledge comes from cognition, and man today cannot cognize anything which lacks logic and scientific proof." (Divine Principle, p. 9)

The next part of the perfection formula is "belief" or faith.

Now, a person may hear "the word", and perfectly understand it, however if they don't believe it (i.e. have faith or confidence in it) then they will never act on that word. And as we will see later, acting on the word is where the real substance comes in!

Even the principle text states:

"Adam and Eve failed to establish this foundation as a result of their not having absolute faith in God's commandment during their growing period." (Outline of the Principle level 4, p. 108)

So, not only were they to receive the word, but after cognizing it they should have had "absolute faith" in this word. It behooves us now to clearly understand what "absolute faith" is and how exactly it is achieved. Some people think that absolute faith means blind obedience. As such, many UC members have adopted the Christian notion of faith, which for Christians means the unquestioning belief and acceptance of a direction or dogma coming form a religious authority. This is sometimes called "blind faith" because it requires no other basis for acceptance other than the fact that it was spoken by a religious authority. However, let us look at the true meaning of the word faith. The word actually means CONFIDENCE in something. If I say that I have faith in you it means that I have confidence that you will do what you say you are going to do. If I say I have faith in someone's word it means that I am confident that this word is true. Hence confidence must be based on something. There is no such thing as blind faith. Even if you accept the truth of a word from a religious authority there is still some reason why you believe that religious authority to begin with! There is some reason why you have confidence in that person. Anyway I think you get my point.

But, in the ordinary sense, how and why do people believe things, (have faith in them) and thus accept them as true? Such faith is achieved by one of two methods or both. That is by logic (theoretically makes sense)or by being empirically demonstrable (i.e. seeing is believing). Modern man needs religious truth to make logical sense in order for him to put his full faith and confidence in it. Remember the Principle states that...

"Intellectual people cannot be satisfied by merely hearing that Jesus is God's son and the savior of mankind." (Divine Principle, p. 14)

and

"Some people do, indeed refuse to believe in religion. They disbelieve because they do not know the reality of God and of the next world. But, however strongly they deny spiritual reality, it is the nature of man to accept and to believe that which is proven in a scientific way." (Divine Principle, p. 11)

"Thus internal truth also requires logical proof." (Divine Principle, p. 9)

Hence to engender modern man's faith in the completed testament word, there needs to be persuasive logic and the possibility of scientific verification.

Belief is a necessary ingredient in the perfection process. Although a person may cognize and understand the word, it is no guarantee that the person will accept the word. To believe in a word means that you accept that word as true and believe the word to be desirable to act upon. How then is belief obtained? Modern people tend to believe things that can be demonstrated by logic or by science.

So when we say "absolute faith", we mean having a "determined commitment to based on sufficient reason".

The next part of the perfection formula is desire or motivating elements.

This is where the emotional element comes in. Though you may believe in something as being true, it is still possible that you might not act on what you claim to believe. We see it all the time. People SAY they believe something, yet act in ways that are contradictory to their professed belief. Hence the word, cognition and belief are not enough. There needs to be a motivating force! Such motivating forces are known as e-motions. Some examples of emotions are fear, hate, love, desire etc. In any case there needs to be some motivating force to enable and motivate someone to act on a belief. One reason why the spoken word is more potent than the written word is because the human voice carries within it a certain vibration element (the intonation). This vibrational element is the e-motional element or force that can be transferred from one person to another. This is why some people are known for being motivational speakers because they can transmit their motivating elements through their voice. Hence the phrase "his enthusiasm was contagious". (This is more evidence to suggest that Lucifer was capable of getting Adam and Eve to act by an emotional element which could be conveyed by his words.)

There is a big difference between telling someone ... "excuse me....I think there is a fire in the next room." and "OH MY GOSH! WE"VE GOT TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE...THIS PLACE IS GOING TO BLOW!!!!" Both statements were the "truth", but which one do you think would have caused you to alter your direction and actually DO something? Of course it was the latter, since it was said with great emotion and feeling. So there needs to be some motivational element to the "word" in order to get human beings to act upon it.

The next part of the perfection formula is...ah yes...you guessed it...ACTION!

This is where the human being chooses to act upon or practice the Logos (word) he or she has received. This action stage is crucial for according to the Divine Principle text, human action generates a particular quality of Vitality Element. It is this element that is infused into the spirit self and subsequently affects the health and quality of the spirit self. For example:

"When man comes to understand, through the truth, what our spirit man desires, and when by putting it into practice HE ACCOMPLISHES HIS PORTION OF RESPONSIBILITY, then the living spirit element and the vitality element enter into give and take action for the purpose of goodness." (Divine Principle, p. 61)

"The goodness or evil in the conduct of the physical man influences his spirit man to become either good or evil. This is because the physical man provides a certain element to the spirit man, which we call the "vitality element." In our everyday life, we know that our mind rejoices when our body performs a good deed, but feel anxiety after evil conduct. This is because the vitality element, which can be good or evil according to the deeds of man, is infused into our spirit man." (Divine Principle, p. 60)

Hence action is necessary to solidify the contents of the word into our spirit self. Another way of looking at it is, whatever you continually practice becomes a habit , this habit becomes an engrained character. Hence what you do physically can affect what kind of person you are spiritually. Again, the quality of the action (and hence the quality of the vitality element generated) is directly related to the quality and content of the word upon which you are acting. This is why words are so crucial and central in the course of perfection, the course of restoration and also in the course of the Fall. Adam failed to perfect himself because he accepted a corrupted word, believed it and then acted upon it. This is why removing the corrupted word and restoring the true word is the central point of restoration. The corrupted word is the Original Sin Element.

Let us continue our investigation of the perfection process by examining vitality elements.

As we just mentioned, vitality elements are the intangible elements generated by our actions and characterized by the word (logos) which formed those actions. Such elements have the affect of developing our character over a particular period of time. As of now we do not have a scientific analysis of vitality elements. This is just a working model to express the idea that the actions we do can be transformed into a form that over time can affect the functioning and operation of our spirit mind and ultimately our character. It is because of the paralyzing effects of Lucifer's word that Adam and Eve's spirit mind became weak and was thus dominated by the physical aspect of their mind. We need to reverse this improper dominion of the minds. Perhaps in the future we may be able to scientifically analyze vitality elements to the point like how we have "nutritional facts" on the packages of any food that we buy. But for now, vitality element is a concept to express the dynamic relationship between our thoughts, actions and subsequent character developed over time.

This leads us directly to our next point...that of time.

This part of the equation just indicates that perfection is not an instantaneous thing (contrary to popular Christian belief). There is a certain amount of time necessary for human perfection to occur:

"The fact that it took six days-that is six periods-to complete the creation of the universe indicates that a certain amount of time is necessary to complete the creation of any individual body in the universe." (Divine Principle, p. 52)

There is some suggestion in the Principle text that this time period can be refined down to a specific mathematical constant. That is to say that we can accurately predict the specific amount of time necessary for one to accomplish human perfection (or at least the minimum and usual amounts of time necessary). For example the Principle text states:

"God's form is also mathematical...The first human ancestor, thus created, was to become a substantial being, mathematically perfected, by setting up the foundation of faith, only after having undergone the mathematical period of growth." (Divine Principle, p. 381)

Just as we have specific time periods for attaining a college degree (measured in credit hours), growing or learning any new skill, so too the human perfection process can be gauged in term of a specific time period. The best guess that we have is that it would have taken 21 years from birth for Adam to attain this state with the "2/3rds" point being at age 12 -14 years of age. For those who have already reached adulthood and are learning the principle for the first time, the process should take no more than 7 years to achieve, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 21.

So then, there you have it. The complete formula for human perfection! All that is left to discuss is what exactly human perfection is.

Perfection...what is it?

From the CAUSA lecture manual....

"It is important here that we define clearly what perfection means. It does not mean that perfected man does not make mistakes, or that he could not injure himself in an accident. Perfection does not imply having superhuman powers. We are speaking about the perfection of man's CHARACTER. Perfected man would live totally in accord with the will of God, experiencing complete union with God. A man of perfection would never desire to separate him self from God, nor would he be capable of being corrupted." (Introduction to the Causa Worldview, p. 272)

This definition is good since it tells what perfection is NOT. However it is still vague as to what perfection is specifically. It does well to point to man's character, but what exactly are the contents of this character? Let me offer a working framework.. Perfection means to posses certain qualities of mind. Those being Heart, Ethics and other attitudes.

1. Heart: is the impulse to experience JOY through love. Hence the perfect person seek joy experiences through practicing love. What is love? Love begins with certain habits and attitudes of mind that when acted upon are perceived as love by the object. Love is the practice of ethics towards human beings and the practice of stewardship towards things. To love some one or something, we must first be interested in them, gain accurate knowledge about them and then do beneficial things for them. Heart means the ability to love for the purpose of obtaining joy..

2. Ethics: These are the principles of human relationships and interaction. Such principles are expressed as particular attitudes.

3. Attitude: These attitudes include :

The habit of seeking to Understand others

Being interested in others

An attitude of taking responsibility

The ability to see both sides of an issue

The tendency to seek accurate knowledge

4. Spirit mind in subjective position: This means that a perfect person has their spirit mind in a dominant position to the physical mind. This is accomplished by removing the Original Sin elements (mind viruses) and fortifying the spirit mind with truth and good vitality elements.

5. State of resonance: This person no longer requires a teacher or guru and can directly perceive God's will for themselves. For example, Rev. Moon has said:

"When you clearly understand this, you won't need an Abel figure but can do it on your own. Otherwise, you need someone to help discipline your life." (p.260 Home Church, 1980)

"Also it will represent your graduation from the Unification Church; you won't need the Unification Church anymore. You should feel that you don't need to have someone looking after you. If you know what you should be doing, why do you need someone giving you direction?" (p.130 Home Church, 1980)

6. Has no religion: Originally, man was not to have any religion, hence the perfected person has no religion, religious dependence or religious affiliation. For example:

"Thus, if man had not fallen in the Garden of Eden, there would be no churches or Bibles, no sermons, no all-night prayer vigils, no revival meetings, nor the like. All each person would need to do is live as the embodiment of goodness, attending God in his everyday life." (Outline of the Principle Level 4, p. 56)

"How wonderful, how simply wonderful it is to live this perfected life of God! This is the true life of joy unequaled by any earthly joy. Once you reach this state of perfection you don't need prayer. Why should you? You meet God face to face, and you live heart to heart with Him. You converse with God. You no longer need religion, and you don't need a savior. All these things are part of the mending process, the process of restoration. A man of perfect health does not need a physician. The man in perfect union with God does not need a savior." (God's will and the World, p.168)

This person has embodied the essence of religion and is thus an ethical person and hence has no need for external religious practices.

7. Logical mind: The perfected person possess a logical mind, since the Logos has a logical form the spirit mind is correspondingly equipped to detect it. This is why we can tell intuitively when something "rings true". It is for this reason why a perfect person can not (or chooses not to) sin. This is because his or her mind now automatically and effectively rejects any non-principled instructions because such instructions usually violate logical principles and are easily recognizable.

Can we really perfect ourselves?

After all of this, you may still be wondering if we can really perfect ourselves of our own effort. You say to yourself "What about the Messiah? I thought we needed him to help us perfect ourselves". This may be true, but the messiah does NOT perfect us. WE have to still take responsibility to perfect ourselves. For example the Principle text states:

"God, the Messiah and religion can only teach people how to avoid hell and show the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whether or not one receives the teaching of God and church is the responsibility of each individual."

"It is not God who determines whether a spirit person goes to the Kingdom of Heaven or to hell. It is each person himself who determines this through his daily life while in his physical body on earth. (Outline of the Principle, Level 4, p. 36)

Likewise many of us have been seduced by Christian mythology that states that human beings are too weak to take responsibility for themselves and that only God can save them. If you look closely, you will realize that this is just another attempt the avoid responsibility and have it thinly veiled as righteousness.

Finally, if you ask yourself..."Who was Adam's messiah?", you will realize that he had no one but himself. This is clear proof that man was originally designed to perfect himself of his own efforts.

That's all for now. There is more that probably needs to be said but I will allow you to search for a while on your own.

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