The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1983
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1983 |
Sun
Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han, May 15, 2011
Then how can God create this kind of environment? He cannot do it by saying, "You religious people must achieve self-denial all by yourselves!" No, we can't do it that way. The standard of self-denial must be created within reciprocal relationships. If you are pushed into the position of being denied by somebody else, it is the same as self-denial. Since you cannot create the sphere of denial by yourselves, God Himself creates it.
Therefore, a religious person will be opposed by everybody. This is the deeper meaning of persecution. When you believe in God and in religion, often those who are closest to you, such as your parents or loved ones will oppose you. In such a case, Satan, as the second subject, is attacking the first subject God. When someone strikes a righteous person unjustly, it sets a condition that must be repaid. Because of this repayment, the development of religion is secured. Do you understand why persecution occurs?
Within the sphere of religion, God must enlarge the practice of self-denial from the individual level to the family, clan, society, nation, and world. You cannot do this by yourselves. In restoration through indemnity, a person tends to think that the standard of individual self-denial is enough, but that is not enough. The standard of individual indemnity must be directed to the indemnity on the world level; that foundation of self-denial must be created. Man himself has not realized this, but God and Satan know it.
People do not know the full standard of denial; therefore, Satan, who does understand it, attacks man to prevent any denial of the individual that is directed to the world level. Religions developed in the course of history until now precisely because they practiced self-denial and received persecution.
This was so, although nobody knew the reason why. Now I am telling you the reason. Since you cannot practice self-denial alone, God allows Satan to deny you instead. And if you gain victory in the realm of denial, then you can claim victory over Satan. You can belong to the true subject, namely God. As the result of persecution, or absolute self-denial in front of God, you can enter the sphere of reciprocal relationship with God. Thus God can intervene for you. This is why religion has developed the most through persecution.
By understanding these general things, you can also understand how to proceed with restoration through indemnity. You cannot deny yourself all alone. Accordingly, you must endure the condition of denial through persecution. Therefore, persecution is absolutely necessary in God's religious dispensation and there is no way to go back to God without passing through that course of persecution. There is no exception to this rule.
The world religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism have all passed through this course. That is why they are standing on the level of world development. The religions themselves have not understood this reason until now. They could not explain why religious people had to go through suffering or persecution, but now you clearly understand this point.