Monday evening Divine Principle presentation in Lancaster Gate

Martin Moloney
March 23, 2010

Yoshiko Chellew brought her Japanese friend and Joanna de Souza her Chinese friend, so there were 8 of us listening to William Haines teaching about Adam's and Noah's Families at our weekly Monday evening Divine Principle presentation and discussion at Lancaster Gate.

Why is this important? Well, if our identity is socially constructed by our relationships, then surely the most significant relationships for each of us are family relationships. Our self understanding comes largely from this source, and in an ideal world, we would all essentially feel that we were sons / daughters of God. However, because of fallen human lineage, we are on a roller coaster emotionally as far as our identity is concerned. We tend to invest everything in being British, or being a Manchester United fan etc.

Because of the Fall, Adam was in the midway position between God and Satan, so neither side could clearly deal with him. Therefore Adam was symbolically divided into his two sons, Cain, further from God, and Abel, relatively closer to God. If Indemnity is to fix what has been broken, then Abel was in a position to restore the Foundation of Faith by believing and following God's word, and Cain was put in a position similar to the Archangel, and he had to show by his attitude that he had no relationship with Satan.

William made the story of Cain and Abel more interesting by readings from the Talmud and Koran, showing that how we think and feel and behave are such important conditions in coming to God's or Satan's side. God loved Cain, but Satan had a claim on him through his attitude in the offering, so what could God do, except warn him to be careful!

Noah made many conditions to establish the Foundation of Faith, however Ham had to inherit his fathers foundation in order to stand as Abel. We heard from the Talmud that because of bad conditions, his shameful response to his naked father showed that he was from the lineage of Satan, and God could not use his family's foundation any more. Sometimes, when we react really badly to a situation, almost out of control, it is because of something we have thought or felt or done, and we should reflect on our conditions. Are we showing the lineage of God, or the lineage of the enemy?

Next week we will hear about Abraham's family.