The Master Speaks On Satan, the Fall, and Evil

Sun Myung Moon
March and April 1965

These questions and answers have been transcribed from tapes made during our Leader's sessions with members and guests at Centers throughout the United States during his trip in March and April 1965.

Question: How could Lucifer have been the rogue in this fall, since supposedly everything, including the angelic kingdom, is created in the image of God?

Answer: There wasn't evil in Lucifer's mind from the beginning. He had only desire, which is not evil in itself. He had a desire to receive more love from God, and he envied Adam because of the greater love he received from God. The desire itself was not evil. When you have desire, you have the ability to compare yourself with others. When you find someone else receiving more grace and more love, you naturally envy them. Lucifer misused his desire. His desire led to misbehavior.

Lucifer learned and discovered that, through the give and take of love between a subject and an object, the entire creation and the entire universe are maintained. The whole universe is ruled by that love and that power. After he learned this, he knew that it was Adam who would be in the position of government. In other words, the central point of the entire universe was the give and take of love between a subject and an object. With this knowledge, when Lucifer saw Eve and contacted her often, he began to have give and take of love with her. As you studied in the Principle, the power of love is so absolute and strong that it drove him to entice her. In that way, evil was created.

There was no evil in the beginning. Lucifer acted against the Principle. That became evil. Evil is not something entirely different from love. Evil is the misuse of love. Good is the right and proper use of love. Good and evil started from one point -- love. If we love God, that is all right. But if we love something or someone against God's will, that is evil. If we love someone or something in accordance with God's will, that is good.

Because the power of love was so strong, God had warned that Adam and Eve not even touch one another. Don't even look at the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. It is too tempting. This means, don't even contact the opposite sex until you are allowed to do it. If you contact, you are tempted. If you go to a certain point, you can't trust yourself not to go farther. So don't start. On this matter, the outlook is very strict. We are all human beings and we know how tempting love can be. We do not even like to have men and women going somewhere together, because we know that humans are not strong. This may be a great problem in America, but it is essential. Never trust yourself too much. My dispensation is to establish a new lineage of pure blood.

Question: How would you procreate a new generation under those conditions?

Answer: I make several conditions before I bless. Through the blessing, you produce a new generation. At the ceremony, I use a holy wine which was made through special revelation. through the use of this holy wine, your body is cleansed. The wine signifies a new life. I could not make this wine until I had made enough conditions and received sanction from God. It tastes very much like grape wine, but it is made of 12 materials. After It was made, many spirits came and asked for a cup of it. In our group, we don't use liquor at all. Only a small portion of wine when we are blessed.

Question: Is Satan a man with a separate power from God, or is Satan man's negative or error thinking -- giving power to fear, greed, jealousy, hate, sickness, revenge, etc.? Is Satan a power other than God, or is God all power? By Satan do you mean "negative". That is, man using God's substance in the wrong way?

Answer: Satan is an entity and power other than God. A person invites Satan, not just because the person is evil, but also because he may have evil ancestors who accumulated the power of evil. A person may be born into an environment where the power of evil is strong. The person himself may not be so evil, but because of this environment or these ancestors, he cannot help felling hatred, jealousy, and negative things. If that person tries to be good by means of religion and education, and chooses good leaders and a good environment to live in -- in other words, if he makes an effort -- the evil power which has been influencing him can be gradually weakened. Even the government can help in making a better environment for its people. They can provide a more moral, more religious environment which can help people to be free from evil influence.

Question: Lucifer was a spirit. How could he stain our blood?

Answer: There is no difference between the spiritual and the physical as far as power is concerned. Energy is power. A child is created by energy. Is not spiritual energy even stronger? The fact that the relationship between Lucifer and Eve was a spiritual relationship means simply that it was invisible to physical eyes. It is the same energy, only stronger and higher. Don't say that it was spiritual and therefore no blood relationship was involved. It was even stronger than a blood relationship.

Present day science sees no difference between the spiritual and the physical. The spiritual cannot be sensed by physical senses, but the only difference is one of dimension. The rate of vibration is higher. It is all part of the spectrum of energy. A seed contains all the potential to become a big tree, but the big tree cannot be seen in it. But the power is all there.

Question: Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Were they told in the same way in which our Master was told the Divine Principle, by having an even conscience -- that is, on a level -- and then establishing a vertical contact with God. If not, then how were they told? They were in the Indirect Dominion; and God did not tell them directly, did He?

The 90 degree angle was not necessary for Adam. It is only necessary for us because we are under satanic domination, so we have to have an even conscience to receive God's thought. It did not apply to Adam. The command not to eat of the fruit was given to Adam by God directly. It did not violate the Indirect Dominion. The Direct Dominion of God implies the Direct Dominion of man's love by God. Apart from this love, God could teach them directly, even in their Growth Stage. He could give the command directly, but He could not interfere or have dominion over Adam and Eve's love directly. If Adam and Eve had asked God whether they should respond to Lucifer, then God could have told them directly. When I said that I make a condition beforehand, I mean that I always ask God if it is all right to offer my offering. Then God is responsible to answer. But Adam and Eve did not ask God. So in the indirect dominion, if you ask God, He has to tell you. But God cannot control human love. That happens only in the Direct Dominion.

Question: What do you mean by "control human love"?

Answer: During the time when children are growing, they do not know love. These days, children see through TV and through parents, they see the love affair before they really mature and sense by themselves. In Adam and Eve's case, they had nothing to see. They did not know about sexual love. As long as they didn't know anything about it, God could not teach them. God had to wait until they matured and knew something about it before they could come under His Direct Dominion. Until that time, God could not tell them, "Don't do this. Don't have a sexual relationship with Lucifer". Through natural growth and development, they would have matured and learned to know of love. Then God could have blessed them in marriage. They were just to grow naturally, and when they reached the point when they came to know one another, then God wanted to bless them. It is different from the state of children today. They know things before they actually mature.

So Direct Dominion means direct control of their love by His love. In all other things, God could give them a direct command, but not about love relationships. Lucifer knew about sexual love before Adam and Eve were aware of it. He was not told this directly, but knew it in his heart.

Question: What exactly was God referring to when he told Adam and Eve not to eat forbidden fruit? What did He actually say?

Answer: When God told Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit, Lucifer heard it too. God would not have told them, "Don't eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge..." as the Bible says. This is only a poetic expression. If I tell you exactly what they were told, it would not be good. This information is not written anywhere, and if I say it now what I say will spread. Even though God told them fairly clearly, Adam and Eve did not take it seriously. God said, "Don't respond to Lucifer's temptation. Don't love him." But those things did not sound serious to them. When one is too young and is not aware of things, some commands do not make sense. You cannot tell things too early. But the angel knew.

Question: Did Lucifer have any idea of what the consequences would be when he took the stand he did against God?

Answer: Yes.

Question: The Bible infers that Satan will be cast out forever. Will he be restored completely?

Answer: Of course. But it will take almost an eternity for it to happen. He has a great deal of indemnity to pay. Lucifer will not be restored to his original position, but will serve in the lowest position. You don't need to think about it now. Your problems are not his.

Question: You say that Adam is in hell. Did he not achieve anything through Jesus then?

Answer: No, he had no common base to work with Jesus. They had the same mission, but Adam lost that mission by falling.

Question: I would appreciate any wisdom you can give us on the subject of dealing with Satan.

Answer: If you continue with your work steadfastly and with firm faith, Satan may disturb you once, twice, or three times. But if you are not shaken in your resolve, he will leave you and work somewhere else. If you are not influenced by him, he will not waste time with you.

Question: We notice that when we bring someone new into the Center, Satan will work through the new people because we are a little stronger and can resist his attacks. How can we help get Satan away from these new people?

Answer: You must fight with Satan and conquer him. As time goes on, this will be less troublesome. At this stage, you must fight individually. This is the cross the Lord has been bearing alone. How can you expect to get away so easily?

Question: At what stage of development was man when the fall of man took place?

Answer: When the fall of man took place, only the first two persons, Adam and Eve, were involved. Before the fall they were in the growth stage growing toward perfection; but they had not yet achieved it. The fall, or deviation from the Principle, resulted in their separation from God. Before the fall Adam and Eve were reflecting God's image, but not to a perfected degree. When man reaches perfection, then no deviation or fall is possible because perfection means unity or union with God in love. Love is the strongest power in the universe. After union with God, it is impossible to separate from this supreme power. The fall occurred before man reached perfection.

Master's Comments:

Evil always creates disturbances and blocks our effort. If you are a good man, you can go "around" to any place. Don't be a "square." Center upon the Divine Principle and knock off the corners. Satan has golden opportunities exploring the corners of your mind.

You will meet Satan at the gate of Heaven. Unless you defeat him you cannot go in. Satan can manifest as a force against the Will of God, or that power which blocks your way to God. This force may appear to be either internal or external. When a person is a prisoner of Satan, he acts according to Satan. Satan's spiritual force can be external.

Satan tried to block or disturb all of our activities before our Leader's arrival. Once our Leader had arrived Satan and his followers had to go. They had done their best and had no further reasons to stay. They have been driven out.

Jesus accomplished healing, in a similar way, by chasing out evil spirits or demons. Jesus' great spiritual force caused the evil spirit to depart and this allowed the victim to immediately become normal. The evil influencing factor had been removed.