The Unification Church of Rev Sun Myung Moon - What They Believe About God and Humankind

Hank Schaf
August 11, 2009

What does the Unification Church, founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, teach about the purpose of life for human beings?

Each and every being has its own purpose for existing. If a created being loses its purpose for existing, it would be naturally discarded. Since we are told that humankind is the most important created being, then what is humankind's purpose of existence?

The purpose for existing is not determined by the created being itself; rather, its true purpose will be determined by its creator. It would seem, then that we must know God's Purpose for the whole creation itself in order to understand the true purpose for humankind and the rest of the cosmos. So why did God, who is almighty and absolute, begin to create?

Rev. Moon and the Unification Church teach that the most essential aspect of God is "Heart." Heart is the impulse to love something or someone in an object position and is the fountain and motivator of love. It is the nature of heart to seek an object to love. God, whose essence is Heart, feels immense joy when he can love an object that he has created. If there is no object to love, then God cannot satisfy his impulse to express care and love which springs limitlessly from within Himself. God made the entire Creation to be the object which he could love. Humankind stands at the top of the creation as the image of God; he can love individuals and all humankind the most.

From the biblical perspective we can see this idea supported. In Genesis 1 that whenever God added to his Creation, he said, "It is good. When he created humans (Adam and Eve), He said it "It is very good." The entire Bible is the story of God's history with humankind; His challenges and joys in trying to love all men, women, families and the whole world.

Hank Schaf writes on religion and society.