Garden of Eden

In the last 3000 years of recorded history, there have been some books and writers who had a dream of an ideal world where all mankind lives in peace and harmony as one huge happy family. The most famous book in the world is the Bible. It begins by saying that God created Adam and Eve to be his son and daughter. They lived in harmony in a place called the Garden of Eden. Some artists have tried to paint their view of the Garden of Eden. I have put several here. One of them is by Michaelangelo who painted his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Then we read that this paradise they were living in turned into a living hell. They failed to obey God and were kicked out. Then it got even worse. Their son, Cain, killed his younger brother Abel. Then it gets even worse. Mankind forms nations with different languages and nations went to war with each other. Human history has been a bloody nightmare.

Rev. Moon learned how evil came into this world. You can read what this revelation is in my book, Divine Principle In Plain Language at my website: www.DivinePrinciple.com. I write in that book, "All cultures provide some conception of the origin of evil, many of which are remarkably similar. Ancient Egyptian stories tell of a golden age which was lost by the 'ancestress of woman' and of a serpent. In ancient Greek literature Pandora's curiosity led her to release evil into the world. ... The story of Adam and Eve in the Bible gives us the most information."

Because Rev. Moon knows the cause of evil and disunity, he knows the cure. Again, you can read the formula for how God wants to restore the world into one big Garden of Eden in my Principle book. What we're going to look at here are some of the books and authors throughout history that deal with the concept of an ideal world. The most popular term these writers use is the word "Utopia." Very few people believe that there will ever be a worldwide utopia.

In ancient Athens the philosopher Plato gave his vision of an ideal society. Two thousand years ago, Jesus of Nazareth spoke of an ideal world. He called it "The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth." Let's look at Plato first and then Jesus.